SARAJEVO, 7 July (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina will this year establish its first contingent of a single border police, whose members will be recruited and trained by the International Police Task Force (IPTF), said Elizabeth Rehn, head
of the U.N. Mission and special envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General for Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Rehn, who has been holding this post for the past two years, is leaving next week for Finland and her successor will most probably be US diplomat Jacques Paul Klein, the incumbent Deputy High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the Bosnian Presidency Following adopts a decision on that matter, the law on border police will be submitted to the parliament by July 15 and immediately after it is adopted, the establishment of the contingent will begin, Rehn said. The contingent, to start operating as of late autumn, will have 1,100 members, whereas the entire border
SARAJEVO, 7 July (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina will this year
establish its first contingent of a single border police, whose
members will be recruited and trained by the International Police
Task Force (IPTF), said Elizabeth Rehn, head of the U.N. Mission and
special envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General for Bosnia-
Herzegovina, in Sarajevo on Wednesday.
Rehn, who has been holding this post for the past two years, is
leaving next week for Finland and her successor will most probably
be US diplomat Jacques Paul Klein, the incumbent Deputy High
Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
After the Bosnian Presidency Following adopts a decision on that
matter, the law on border police will be submitted to the parliament
by July 15 and immediately after it is adopted, the establishment of
the contingent will begin, Rehn said.
The contingent, to start operating as of late autumn, will have
1,100 members, whereas the entire border police will have a total of
3,000 members. All of them will have to complete special training,
to be conducted by members of the German border police.
The establishment of the first police contingent is a very
important step for Bosnia-Herzegovina because the country will
have to strive towards a single army and a single police force, Rehn
said.
The decision of the Croat and Bosniak sides to finally start
organising a single security and intelligence service in the BH
Federation and abolish secret police units, which were under direct
control of political structures, is an encouraging sign as well,
she added.
According to Rehn, IPTF's presence in the country will be needed for
many years to come, and the major obstacle to making the country's
police professional are the advocates of old structures.
The fight against organised crime will have to be continued, and a
precondition for this is the reorganisation of the current judicial
system.
Commenting on the investigation into the assassination of
Federation Deputy Interior Minister Jozo Leutar, Rehn said the case
was still on the list of top priorities of both the international
community and local police forces.
She confirmed that a mixed investigation team, set up immediately
after the assassination, was working intensively. The results of an
investigation by US forensic experts should be completed in the
next couple of days, she said.
(hina) rml