AID SUSPENDED OVER STALLING IN NON-BOSNIAK RETURNS TO SARAJEVO

( Editorial: --> 7524 ) SARAJEVO, July 14 (Hina) - Deputy High Representative Hanns Schumacher has confirmed the international community has suspended aid for Sarajevo because local authorities have not fulfilled obligations in returning non-Bosniaks (Muslims) to the Bosnian capital. The European Union has suspended 15 million ECU in reconstruction aid for Sarajevo while the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has frozen an additional US$5 million intended for the same purpose. In an interview in Tuesday's edition of Sarajevo daily "Dnevni avaz", Schumacher said High Representative Carlos Westendorp had not recommended sanctions be imposed against Sarajevo, but supported them. Schumacher recalled that a declaration passed at a conference in February had planned that 20,000 non-Bosniaks return to Sarajevo by the end of the year, but so far only 365 Croats, 447 Serbs and 47 "others" had returned. The German diplomat said that instead of seriously facing the issue, the Bosniak side had wasted all its energy in media attacks on the Office of the High Representative (OHR). The OHR had asked that the Sarajevo cantonal authorities resolve by April 1 the problem of 500 instances in which one person or family were using more than one flat, and by July 1 another 1,500 such cases, Schumacher said. He said accusations that someone would be thrown onto the streets were not true. Schumacher said even though the OHR had repeatedly asked that the deadlines be met, the Sarajevo cantonal authorities had not responded. Westendorp personally intervened in an approach to Bosnian Presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic, mainly because many of the cases involve members of his Bosniak-led Party of Democratic Action (SDA), but this did not yield any results, Schumacher said. The Deputy High Representative for the implementation of the Dayton agreement also said the international community was not satisfied with the situation in Banja Luka, the headquarters of the Bosnian Serb entity. He warned sanctions also could be introduced soon in that city because of the slow return of non-Serbs who had lived there before the war. (Hina) mbr jn 141330 MET jul 98