U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY DIENSTBIER VISITS SANDZAK REGION

BELGRADE, Oct 5 (Hina) - Special U.N. envoy for human rights Jiri Dienstbier on Tuesday visited Novi Pazar in the Sandzak region where he met local Bosniak leaders who informed him of the pressure exerted by the Serbian regime on Bosniaks and the violation of their rights. Sandzak is located on the Serbian-Montenegrin border and it borders with south-eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. The president of the Bosniak National Council (BNVS), Sulejman Ugljanin, conveyed his concern to Dienstbier about what he described as an anti-Bosniak campaign of Montenegro's state media. He also said the Montegerin leadership had not done anything to improve the status of the Bosniak community, which was why their emigration was continuing. Ugljanin sought a more active engagement of the international community in creating stable mechanisms for a permanent peace and security, adding the BNVS was contributing to this with its draft memorandum on the autonomy of Sandzak and special relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ugljanin's political opponent, the president of the coalition "Sandzak", Rasim Ljajic, and Dienstbier agreed the memorandum represented a serious threat to the further development of the situation in the region because it jeopardised the principle of the inviolability of borders. The autonomy memorandum envisages the unification of the Sandzak region, including its section in Montenegro. (hina) rml