BRCKO OFFICIALS ON EXPANDED ARBITRATION DECISION ON TOWN'S STATUS

BRCKO, Aug 19 (Hina) - The municipal head of north-eastern Bosnian town Brcko, Mijo Anic, on Thursday commented on an annex issued yesterday to the final arbitration decision on Brcko's status. The annex offers guidelines for the organisation of the Brcko district, Anic told a local radio station, but added it would require plenty of harmonising among political parties, and orders on the part of Robert Farrand, the international supervisor for the district, in cases when the three sides (Croat, Serb, Muslim) failed to agree. The Croat side is interested in the return of pre-war inhabitants and expected clearer definitions regarding the district's residents, he said. Anic suggested that a meeting be held with representatives of district authorities and representatives of municipalities from which Serb displaced persons had come to Brcko, such as Jajce and Sarajevo for instance. The aim of the meeting would be to define the issue of district residents, especially that of displaced Serbs. It is further necessary to establish modalities of protecting Croat and Muslim displaced persons renting flats in Brcko, Anic said, adding the Croat side was also dissatisfied with the undefined status of villages which were formerly part of the Brcko municipality, and are now part of the municipalities of Srebrenik and Gradacac. Brcko deputy mayor Mirsad Islamovic, commenting the annex, said supervisor Farrand would have great authority. He hopes Farrand's Office will cooperate with the municipal executive committee in working on the organisation of the district, primarily focusing on the organisation of authorities, a multiethnic police, and the judiciary. Islamovic said the annex was based on the basic principles of the final decision, namely the establishment of a multiethnic community and multiethnic bodies of authority. (hina) ha