INTERNATIONAL ORG REPS WELCOME GOVT INSTRUCTIONS FOR RETURN

( Editorial: --> 9257 ) ZAGREB, July 22 (Hina) - International organisations have welcomed instructions for the establishment of housing commissions as another concrete step in implementing the Croatian Government's refugee return programme. Government instructions to local authorities in areas of return regarding the establishment and activities of housing commissions are of great importance, because it sets a deadline for their formation by the end of July, said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) spokesman in Zagreb, Mark Thompson, on Wednesday. Thompson was speaking at the regular weekly press conference in Zagreb held jointly by the OSCE, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations. All decisions which were delivered by housing commissions prior to the release of the instructions on July 20 are considered illegal and will be reexamined, which does not necessarily mean they will be changed, Thompson said. The OSCE spokesman emphasised that it would be impossible to begin implementing the programme if all areas of return in the country were not totally covered by the competencies of the housing commissions. Coordinated action by housing commissions across the country therefore will be decisive for a successful beginning to the implementation of the return programme, he said. The OSCE and the UNHCR from next week or a week later will begin releasing regular weekly reports on the implementing of the return programme with the aim of enabling journalists and the public to see the progress made, Thompson said. He announced that OSCE mission to Croatia head Tim Guldiman, who was injured in a traffic accident in Zagreb last week, would be released from a hospital in Zurich today and would continue his recuperation next week. He will return to Zagreb at the beginning of August. Mr. Guldiman thanks all those who sent him wishes for a speedy recovery and praises the high quality medical care offered to him in Zagreb, Thompson said. United Nations Liaison Office (UNLO) in Zagreb spokeswoman Kirsten Haupt said the number of incidents in the eastern Danube River region during the past seven days had been reduced considerably in relation to the previous week. She also turned to comments on by Croatian Parliament Vice- President Vladimir Seks, reported in the Croatian media, that representatives of the international community in the Osijek- Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem Counties had not participated in mine clearing programmes. We seriously regret such incorrect comments by Mr Seks, she said, emphasising that the international community had in large measures participated in de-mining projects in the Danube region since January this year, of which some have been completed and others are continuing. These projects mostly involved the de-mining of the agricultural areas. She said that before the adoption of the amendment to the Law on Mine Clearing in June this year, it had been difficult for foreign humanitarian agencies to be included in de-mining projects in Croatia. But the amendments have resolved this problem. We regret Mr Seks is not aware of these particulars, Haupt concluded. UNHCR mission to Croatia chief Robert Robinson and the Croatian Government's Office for Refugees and Displaced Persons head Lovre Begovic on Monday met in Belgrade with high-ranking officials from the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry and the Serbian Refugees Commission, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said. Robinson said the meeting concentrated on confirming the procedure registering return, and it was constructive. The next such meeting will be held in the second week in August in Montenegro, the UNHCR spokesman said. Mahecic said the return programme had to be carried out in accordance with established rules and government instructions. There were cases in Baranja where assembly centres had been offered as alternative accommodation, which was not in accordance with the government's return programme, Robinson said. (Hina) mbr jn /is 222132 MET jul 98