DERVENTA SERBS INJURE CARDINAL PULJIC'S SECRETARY

( Editorial: --> 9130 ) SVILAJ, April 24 (Hina) - Six Bosnian Croats including Sarajevo Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic's secretary, Ivo Tomasevic, were injured in Thursday's incidents in Derventa when they were besieged and stoned by an angry mob of Serbs. Tomasevic was struck in the head with a stone and five other people displaced from the Bosanska Posavina region had been injured in the attack, Bosnian Federation Army Brigadier-General Ilija Rasic said on Thursday night. Rasic was in the group of Croats that had been surrounded by local Serbs in Derventa (northern Bosnia) for almost the whole day. A group of about 100 Croats exiled from the Serb-controlled town, headed by Cardinal Puljic, arrived in Derventa at about 11.30 hours to clean up the crypt of a devastated church, in which Puljic was supposed to have served mass, Rasic said. Their arrival had been organised beforehand and the mass notified to the international community and local Serb authorities, which had been documented, Rasic stressed. He expressed bitterness with the conduct of international organisations. About 1,500 Serb civilians gathered around the Croats and Cardinal Puljic and threw stones and eggs at them. The mob then held them under siege for six hours. Rasic said Serbs had thrown 400 grams of explosives into the crypt, but, luckily, only the fuse capsule exploded. After the six hours, Cardinal Puljic was transported by SFOR troops to Sarajevo and the displaced Croats were taken by SFOR buses initially to Doboj (northern Bosnia, under Serb control) and then they all went in their different directions, Rasic said. The last group of eight Croats arrived in Croatia late Thursday night. The displaced Croats arrived in Derventa based on approval from Bosnian Serb authorities issued on 16 April. "However, nobody met us at the border crossing into Republika Srpska, not international representatives, nor representatives of Republika Srpska," Croatian presidential advisor Slobodan Lang told Croatian Television Thursday night. In the Bosanski Brod municipality there had been police, but on the direct 'border' between Bosanski Brod and Derventa, there were a group of protesters expressing hatred and intolerance. Lang said the international community was not capable of organising such events. He called on Deputy High Representative Jacques Klein and Bosnian Serb representatives to prove themselves at a 'repeat exam' on Saturday (April 25), when the Bosnian Serb entity should be able to show it was capable of complying with basic norms it is obliged to fulfil and the international community to show how determined it is to secure the safety of all people. Sarajevo Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar said Thursday that the first Catholic religious service in Derventa following the expulsion of Croats in 1992 had been notified earlier, with the appropriate approval given, including written assurances from the municipal head and the Bosnian Serb government. Bishop Sudar said all security guarantees had been given for the arrival and visit to Derventa for 650 believers. (hina) lm jn /mb 241441 MET apr 98