DESPITE OF DERVENTA INCIDENTS CATHOLIC CHURCH SUPPORTS RETURN

( Editorial: --> 9232 ) SARAJEVO, April 24 (Hina) - The Sarajevo Archbishop, Vinko Puljic, on Friday stated that the responsibility for the attack on him and the worshippers in Derventa on St. George's Day lies with extremists who oppose every possibility for the return of displaced people to their homes. The siege in Derventa was carefully staged, but that kind of attack will not stop the Catholic Church from advocating the return of refugees, said Puljic at a press conference in Sarajevo. "It was not a spontaneous gathering and displaced Serbs who live in Derventa did not participate in it," said Puljic. Extremists who oppose the return of Croats started organising those incidents two or three days earlier, and protesters were even coming in by buses. Recalling that the mass in Derventa had earlier been arranged with local authorities and the Republika Srpska Government, Cardinal Puljic said that the Serb police knew that incidents were being prepared but did not do anything to prevent them. He expressed amazement at the behaviour of the international police force and SFOR who took much too long to decide to evacuate the gathered worshippers. In fact, they did so only after an explosive was thrown into the crypt of the desecrated church, which fortunately did not activate. Commenting on the claims of the Bosnian Serb entity's Interior Ministry that the incidents in Derventa were a reaction to the recent killing of two Serbs in Drvar, Cardinal Puljic said that one crime cannot justify another and that by using those sorts of arguments the authorities are encouraging extremism. "I am calling on all the people to refrain from any counter-reaction - such attempts would be evil," Puljic said. The Holy See's charge d'affaires in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Msgr. Mario Cassari, publicly expressed support for Cardinal Puljic and his advocation for return, peace and tolerance. The Sarajevo Archdiocese Chancellor, Father Ivo Tomasevic, who was injured in Derventa when hit in the head by a piece of concrete, recalled that parishioners had been expelled from most of the Catholic parishes in northern Bosnia, and that by going to Derventa they wanted to inspire return. The Bosnia Srebrena Franciscan Provinciate, Friar Petar Andjelovic, announced his intention to celebrate mass, together with Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar, at the ruins of the Franciscan monastery in Plehan near Derventa next Saturday. He said that a gathering of more than 600 worshippers was expected. The SFOR spokesperson in Sarajevo, Louis Garneau, stated that SFOR command is informed of preparations for the mass at Plehan and that necessary security measures will be undertaken. Garneau condemned yesterday's incidents in Derventa but rejected that responsibility could lie with SFOR, emphasising that before anyone else it lies with the local authorities and police, who did not perform their duties. UN spokesperson Liam McDowall today judged that the police in Derventa obviously reacted badly and did not stop the attack. He announced start of investigations so that concrete responsibility could be established. The High Representative's spokesperson, Simon Haselock, expressed regret for the incidents and repeated a warning that officials who thwart the implementation of the Dayton agreement will be replaced on Westerndorp's authority. (hina) jn mrb/as 241856 MET apr 98