BOSNIAN HDZ REACTS TO KLEIN'S ACCUSATIONS

( Editorial: --> 5299 ) MOSTAR, Feb 28 (Hina) - President of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bozo Rajic, on Saturday issued a statement on behalf of the party's leadership and the Coordination of Senior Officials of Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bosnian Federation Bodies of Authority, protesting against accusations by the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jacques Klein, against the party in Friday's interview to the Sarajevo daily "Dnevni Avaz". Klein "without arguments is accusing the HDZ of Bosnia-Herzegovina for the removal of Croats, and especially for "mining the role of the Catholic Church," the statement said. Klein's claims according to which the HDZ was "so obstructive" as to causing people to move away, were "absolutely inappropriate," the statement said. "The height of correspondence between the declared and stated in this interview is reached when Mr. Klein says I do not care if someone voted for someone with 97 per cent - this is not voting, this is a tribal orientation". Rajic also expressed conviction that such Klein's statements were not official stances of the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that this would not jeopardise the cooperation of the Bosnian HDZ with officials of the international community, including Klein. (hina) lm 281741 MET feb 98