GARROD CALLS ON CROATS TO RETURN TO EAST MOSTAR

( Editorial: --> 7595 ) MOSTAR, July 14 (Hina) - The head of the Mostar regional office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Martin Garrod, on Tuesday called on displaced Croats to return to their homes in east Mostar. Garrod rejected accusations by local Croat officials that he did not want Croats to return to the Bosniak (Muslim) dominated eastern part of the town. Garrod told reporters that a return plan for Mostar, signed by the town's Bosniak mayor Safet Orucevic and Croat deputy mayor Ivan Prskalo, foresaw the return of Croats to 120 houses in the suburb of Bijelo Polje, 76 houses in the Stari Grad municipality and 70 houses in the South-East municipality. Recalling that Bosniak refugees were currently accommodated in 85 Croat houses in Bijelo Polje, Garrod said Herzegovina-Neretva Canton prefect Zeljko Obradovic and deputy prefect Fatima Leho had proposed that the Bosniaks occupying those houses be relocated to a UNHCR camp. This would enable the return of Croats to Bijelo Polje, while the Bosniaks would be only temporarily accommodated in the UNHCR camp until their homes are reconstructed. Promising aid to Croat returnees in east Mostar, Garrod said there were about 80 houses in Bijelo Polje to which they could return immediately. He criticised Croat leaders for not coming to Bijelo Polje on July 11 to support a group of 50 Croats, who had arrived to see whether they could return to their homes. Displaced Croats need to ask their leaders what they are doing to help them return, Garrod said. He said that displaced Bosniaks and Serbs were returning to destroyed settlements, not waiting for the international community to do all the work for them. Recently 50 Serbs returned to the suburb of Ortijes to reconstruct their destroyed homes by themselves, Garrod said. Garrod rejected accusations by local Croat officials that the Serbs had returned to Ortijes without consultations with Croat authorities. He added that consultations had been carried out with Croat leaders on all levels. (Hina) mbr jn /rml 141709 MET jul 98