GARROD ATTACKED FOR "SABOTAGING" RETURN OF CROATS TO E. MOSTAR

( Editorial: --> 5329 ) MOSTAR, July 3 (Hina) - A Bosnian Croat official has accused the head of international High Representative Carlos Westendorp's office in Mostar, Martin Garrod, of sabotaging the return of Croats to the southern city's Muslim-dominated eastern sector. In a letter sent to Garrod, Mostar's Deputy Mayor Ivan Prskalo said Garrod had not done anything which would enable the return of 120 Croat families to the ethnically cleansed eastern part of the city. He also said Garrod had lost all credibility and authority in Mostar, according to a report carried by Bosnian Croat news agency Habena. Prskalo said the return of 66 Serb families to the Mostar suburb of Ortijes had been agreed to without the involvement of Croat representatives, and that probably more Serbs had returned to Ortijes than Croats had throughout the whole of the Bosnian Serb entity. He assessed that Garrod's political engagement had dangerous consequences for the survival, constitutive state and equality of the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As a result there was no further need for Garrod's political engagement in Mostar, the Mostar Deputy Mayor added. At the end of the letter, Prskalo said his letter was also a response to all invitations for meetings called by Garrod. (Hina) mbr jn 031426 MET jul 98