HASELOCK: MOSTAR DEPUTY MAYOR WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

( Editorial: --> 6139 ) SARAJEVO, July 7 (Hina) - The attitude of Mostar Deputy Mayor Ivan Prskalo towards Martin Garrod, head of the international High Representative's office in Mostar, has been cause of concern within the international community, spokesman for High Representative Carlos Westendorp's office in Sarajevo Simon Haselock said on Tuesday. The High Representative is considering which measures to take in that regard, he told reporters. According to Haselock, Prskalo's recent letter to Garrod in which he declared Garrod persona non grata in Mostar is filled with unjustified attacks which led the High Representative to think about measures to be taken against the southern Bosnian town's deputy mayor. Local authorities and officials are responsible for their actions, Haselock said, emphasising that in line with decisions from conferences in Bonn and Luxembourg, the High Representative is authorised to remove such persons from their posts. This will be applied in instances of uncooperative officials, especially in the obstruction of the return of refugees to their homes, the spokesman said, pointing out that the return process must be stepped up. Haselock also condemned the incidents which took place in Mostar on Saturday night when one Bosniak (Muslim) was killed and another was wounded in a shooting after the Croatia-Germany soccer match. According to the first results of an investigation supervised by the International Police Task Force, 25-year-old Emina Catic was most probably killed by a ricocheting bullet which was fired from the western, Croat-controlled part of the town towards eastern, Muslim-controlled Mostar. (hina) ha as 071344 MET jul 98