DEBELI BRIJEG BORDER CROSSING RE-OPENED, YU ARMY CONTROLS TRAFFIC

DUBROVNIK, 21 April (Hina) - The border crossing of Debeli Brijeg on the Croatian-Montenegrin border has been re-opened, however, the Yugoslav Army - which has set up a checkpoint on the road to Debeli Brijeg and Konfin (another border crossing) - on Wednesday continued to control passenger and goods traffic, not allowing passengers without visas to enter Montenegro, Dubrovnik County police reported on Wednesday. This afternoon, one person from Montenegro entered Croatia. At the same time, six Croatian citizens were not allowed to enter Montenegro, and the army returned a truck carrying humanitarian aid for Kosovo refugees, the county police superintendent Eduard Cengija said. Last night, Yugoslav army members returned six Croatian nationals, three vehicles and three French journalists. A member of the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO), Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, was among those who failed to enter Montenegro today. Cicak was to escort a convoy of three trucks carrying humanitarian aid. Cicak said he had submitted his visa application to the Yugoslav Embassy in Zagreb on April 19. He was told that he would be given a visa immediately, but after he said that he intended to conduct an interview in Belgrade, he was told that journalists were subject to a special regime and had to be granted special permits. "According to my information, the Yugoslav Army is the one approving visas, the Montenegrin police let us through, but the Yugoslav Army, whose check-point is two kilometres from the Croatian-Montenegrin border, returned us", Cicak said. Cicak added that the trucks with humanitarian aid would take the aid to its destination, unload it, and return to Croatia. (hina) rml