BOSNIAN SERBS BLOCK ROAD NEAR SARAJEVO

( Editorial: --> 0602 ) SARAJEVO, Feb 9 (Hina) - A group of about 500 Bosnian Serbs on Monday afternoon blocked traffic on a road leading from Sarajevo to the suburb of Lukavica, which is in Bosnian Serb territory. Eyewitnesses said protesters near Kula, which is close to the inter-entity separation line, had stopped and blocked two buses and several cars with Muslim-Croat Bosnian Federation registration plates. Protesters put conditions on the release of the vehicles by asking for Goran Vasic to be set free from prison. Vasic was arrested by Sarajevo police Friday 6 February under suspicion for killing former Bosnian deputy prime minister Hakija Turajlic. Stabilisation Force and International Police Task Force (IPTF) sources said until late Monday afternoon, the protesters blocking the vehicles had not provoked violence nor threatened passengers inside. French SFOR troops stationed at the site were monitoring the situation. Following Vasic's arrest on Friday, Serbs blocked two UNHCR buses. That organisation suspended the transportation of refugees on its buses in that part of Bosnia-Herzegovina because of the unstable situation. (Hina) mm mb 091901 MET feb 98