BUGOJNO DECLARED OPEN TOWN DESPITE CROAT SCEPTICISM

( Editorial: --> 0053 ) BUGOJNO, June 9 (Hina) - A session of the Bugojno Municipal Council on Tuesday focused on a declaration proclaiming Bugojno in central Bosnia an open town. The declaration has been agreed to by councillors from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosniak (Muslim) led Coalition for an Integral and Democratic BH, headed by the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). The declaration was adopted after certain objections by the caucus of the Croat councillors. Bugojno's status of an open town must be confirmed by a UNHCR commission for BH, which will assess whether the town meets the requirements, especially those concerning the return of refugees. Croat councillors said that the current Croat population of Bugojno comprised 1,602 people, compared to 17,500 Croats before the war. They added that Croats still had not been allowed to visit their houses in the villages of Vrtec, Vrbanja and Crnice, which were devastated in 1993. President of the HDZ BH for Bugojno, Ante Mustapic, said during the debate that as many as five thousand Croats would return to Bugojno if Bosniak authorities vacated a thousand Croat flats and houses. Deputy Premier of the Central Bosnia Canton, Zeir Mlivo, retorted that conditions were not ripe for the return of flats to the Croats. (Hina) lm mro /mbr 092105 MET jun 98