BOSNIA SEEKS ASSISTANCE FOR YUGOSLAV REFUGEES

SARAJEVO, April 15 (Hina) - Prime ministers of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb Republika Srpska, Edhem Bicakcic and Milorad Dodik, held talks near Sarajevo on Thursday about implementing an arbitration decision on Bosnia's northern town of Brcko and problems regarding the increasing number of arrived refugees from Yugoslavia. This was the first direct contact between the two entities' senior officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the start of NATO strikes on FR Yugoslavia. Bicakcic told reporters after the meeting that Bosnia-Herzegovina would not be able to solve the problem of refugees without the help of the international community. He said authorities in the country advocated the holding of a donors' conference in May, as scheduled. Dodik endorsed the view that it should not be allowed for funds intended for the reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina to be detoured due to the crisis in the region. He said Republika Srpska requested a 30-day postponement at least for the adoption of annexes to the final arbitration decision on Brcko, due to the crisis in Yugoslavia. Brcko used to be mostly populated by Moslems and Croats, but Serbs had, with the help of the Yugoslav People's army, occupied it and ethnically cleansed it during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in order to create a corridor through northern Bosnia towards Banja Luka. The Dayton peace accords left the decision to which entity the town would belong to international arbitration. The arbiter decided Brcko should be a separate district, but the decision has not been implemented yet. Bicakcic said the Republika Srpska government's request would be discussed. According to him, the task of relevant ministries of both entities remained to draft concrete plans of return and provide security to those who wished to return to their homes. (hina) lml jn