OHR SAYS BOSNIAN SERB PARLIAMENT IMPINGES UPON STATE AUTHORITY

SARAJEVO, Oct 12 (Hina) - The Bosnian Serb parliament's decision to proclaim invalid Bosnia's genocide suit against Yugoslavia has no legal value because its contents impinge upon the authority exclusive to Bosnian state-level bodies, an international official said in Sarajevo on Tuesday. The spokesman of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) for Bosnia, Simon Haselock, was the first to comment on the attempt of the parliament of Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska (RS), to contend pursuance with the suit Bosnia filed against Yugoslavia at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1993. Haselock said the suit's legal foundation can be a case of dispute only before Bosnia's Constitutional Court, and not conclusions reached by one of the country's two entities' parliaments. The RS parliament held an extraordinary session in Banja Luka on Sunday at the urging of Bosnian Presidency Serb member Zivko Radisic, who said the 1993 suit was "destructive to the interests" of the Bosnian Serb entity, and proclaimed it invalid due to its alleged encroaching upon the vital interests of Bosnian Serbs. Haselock said the OHR did not know if the process would be resumed because, he added, the OHR did not want to get involved. He however pointed out the conclusions the RS parliament reached on the matter were invalid because they were an attempt to contend the authority of Bosnian state bodies. Haselock also said the OHR was very concerned about the fact that Radisic and RS parliament president Petar Djokic last week held talks in Belgrade with Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. The spokesman said the OHR had emphasised on numerous occasions that contacts with war crimes suspects, like Milosevic, could only damage the interests of the RS as well as of Bosnia. (hina) ha mm