U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HOLDS TALKS WITH HDZ BIH PRESIDENT

( Editorial: --> 7203 ) SARAJEVO/ZAGREB, Aug 31 (Hina) - American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday received in the American Embassy in Sarajevo a delegation from the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia- Herzegovina (HDZ BiH), lead by its president Ante Jelavic. Jelavic assured Albright that the new HDZ BiH leadership was truly committed to realising the Dayton peace accords. A statement from the HDZ BiH election headquarters said that Jelavic had delivered a letter to Albright, which included a list of activities the HDZ BiH had undertaken to ensure the realisation of the Dayton agreement in the period from June to August, 1998. "The HDZ holds as extremely important, its top priority, the implementation of Annex 7 (Return of Refugees), i.e. it is committed to a complete and unconditional return of refugees according to the Sarajevo and Banja Luka declarations, as well as canton return schedules," the statement quoted Jelavic as saying. As part of the process, Jelavic said, we hold the return of Croats to central Bosnia, Bugojno and Travnik, as well as to the Bosnian Serb republic, as very important. Jelavic also expressed his party's readiness for Serb and Muslim return to predominantly Croat cantons, in line with return schedules. On the subject of the September elections, Jelavic expressed a belief that they would be a turning point in creating a democratic Bosnia-Herzegovina, and asked Albright's guarantee for equal international treatment of all political parties, and her assurance that the elections would be fair and just. Jelavic also stressed his belief that the election campaigns would be correctly completed, and said he expected the HDZ BiH to win more than 80 per cent of the Croat vote. (Hina) jfk jn /mbr 312109 MET aug 98