U.S. INVESTIGATORS GATHER DATA ON SITUATION IN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Sept 20 (Hina) - A special investigative team established under a decision of the United States Congress will investigate the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to establish a corruption- fighting strategy, U.S. diplomats Robert Frowick and James Pardew said in Sarajevo on Monday. According to Sarajevo media, Frowick and Pardew said after talks with members of the Bosnian Council of Ministers they would initially focus on gathering as much data as possible relative to corruption-fighting, as well as on the improvement of the overall situation in Bosnia. The team is headed by the former head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Bosnia and the U.S. special envoy for military stabilisation in the Balkans, and was established after a U.S. Congress debate on claims on corruption in Bosnia published in an August New York Times article. The U.S diplomats' task has been compared by the Sarajevo media to the one carried out in the 1930s by Elliot Ness' legendary inflexible squad. Upon arriving to Sarajevo on Sunday, the diplomats met with Bosnian Presidency member Alija Izetbegovic, and then with Presidency chairman Ante Jelavic. The U.S diplomats will discuss the issues in Banja Luka, the Bosnian Serb capital, on Tuesday. (hina) ha jn