BOSNIAN SERBS WON'T ATTEND MEETINGS OUTSIDE OF THEIR TERRITORY

SARAJEVO/BANJA LUKA, Aug 27 (Hina) - Bosnian Serb Defence Minister Manojlo Milovanovic on Friday announced Bosnian Serb political and military officials will no longer partake in meetings and other activities organised outside their territory by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe or other bodies, in the wake of General Momir Talic's arrest. In a letter forwarded to Robert Barry, the head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia, Milovanovic said "participation is no longer possible" in such meetings after Talic's arrest, carried out in Vienna two days ago at an OSCE-organised seminar on military issues. Talic, chief-of-staff of the Bosnian Serb army, is accused of war crimes committed in Bosnia in 1992. The Bosnian Serb Supreme Defence Council convened in Banja Luka on Friday on the occasion of Talic's arrest. The session was chaired by Zivko Radisic, the Serb member in Bosnia's three-man Presidency. A statement released after the session says Talic will remain the Bosnian Serb army's chief-of-staff. During his absence he will be replaced by his deputy, General Novica Simic. After Talic's arrest, Simic met the deputy chief commander of NATO's peace-keeping Stabilisation Force, General Michael Willcocks. The continuation of cooperation between the Bosnian Serb army and the SFOR has not been brought into question, despite much criticism of the arrest which was carried out on the basis of a secret indictment from The Hague. (hina) ha