NEW B. FEDERATION INTELLIGENCE SERVICE NOT PART OF INTERIOR MINISTRY

( Editorial: --> 9032 ) SARAJEVO, March 12 (Hina) - The Agency for Investigation and Documentation and the National Security service which have till now represented the Bosniac and Croat secret service in Bosnia- Herzegovina, should be integrated soon, because both sides have shown interest in completing the job as soon as possible, Sarajevo daily "Dnevni Avaz" said on Thursday. Citing unnamed sources from the Agency for Investigation and Documentation, the paper claims that the new Bosnian Federation intelligence service will be an independent body which will not be an integral part of the Bosnian Federation Interior Ministry. The Service will not have police authority and it will be under close scrutiny by the Parliament and government. According to "Avaz's" source, significant progress in negotiations about the reorganisation of secret services have been achieved only during the past two months, after some diplomatic pressure. "It is not difficult to guess who exerted the pressure and whose hand was 'twisted'," the source said, probably alluding to US mediation aimed at mellowing the hard-core stances of the Bosniac side. The initial document on the establishment of the new intelligence service was signed by Alija Izetbegovic and Kresimir Zubak, and a law is being drafted to regulate the service. "Avaz" claims that the new service, whose name has yet to be decided on, will have the task of collecting evidence on committed war crimes and cooperate with the International Criminal tribunal in The Hague. (hina) lm jn 121211 MET mar 98