CROATIA INITIALS AGREEMENT ON PLOCE PORT AND NEUM

( Editorial: --> 9429 ) ZAGREB, Sept 10 (Hina) - Croatia on Thursday initialled an agreement on the use of its southern port of Ploce by Bosnia- Herzegovina and unobstructed passage through Neum, a coastal town on Bosnian territory which separates Dubrovnik from the rest of Croatia. The agreement does not threaten Croatia's sovereignty in Ploce, said Hrvoje Sarinic, the Croatian President's chief-of-staff. The document, titled "The Agreement on Free Passage Through the Territory of the Republic of Croatia In and From the Port of Ploce and Through the Territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina In Neum", was signed by Sarinic and Economy Minister Nenad Porges on the Croatian side and special US envoy Richard Sclar and Deputy High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jacques Klein, on the other. "The agreement in no way questions Croatia's sovereignty," Sarinic said following the initialling procedure. Until today, the issue of Croatia's sovereignty has been the main stumbling block in the Croatian-Bosnian negotiations on the Ploce port. The agreement signed today is part of the agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and it will certainly be part of a general agreement on special relations envisaged by the Washington and later Dayton agreements, Sarinic said. Following its initialling, the document will be considered by the Croatian Government and the Croatian National Parliament and "it will definitely be signed after the announcement of election results in Bosnia-Herzegovina", he added. Croatia and Bosnia have been negotiating on Ploce and Neum since the signing of the Washington agreements in 1994. Documents adjusted at that time included an agreement on passage through the Neum municipality and an agreement guaranteeing sea access through Ploce for the Croat-Muslim Federation. These agreements were signed in a package also including an agreement on confederal links between the Federation and Croatia. The latter was however brought into question following the signing of the Dayton peace agreement at the end of 1995. The United States entered the negotiations last year, when its representative suggested that a free zone in Ploce be organised in line with Federation laws. Croatia however rejected the US proposal, pointing out to the inviolability of Croatian sovereignty. The Federation is currently using the Ploce port in line with a temporary agreement signed in Zagreb in May 1996. The agreement initialled today had been agreed on at last week's talks in Dubrovnik. (hina) jn rml /mbr 101418 MET sep 98