OSCE MISSION CHIEF IN BOSNIA PLEASED WITH COURSE OF ELECTIONS

( Editorial: --> 9956 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 12 (Hina) - Head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Robert Barry, said on the first day of elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina that he is pleased with the response of voters, as far as the first couple of hours are concerned. It is still early to speculate, but we estimate that between 70 and 80 per cent of registered voters will take the poll, Barry said in Sarajevo. There had been some technical difficulties at 107 polling stations in the country causing delays, but Barry assured that the difficulties were being speedily removed. All such polling stations will remain opened beyond 7pm on Saturday, and everyone will have a chance to vote, chief of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission said. Troubles with the delivery of voting lists to stations is a problem that occurs even in the most progressed countries and the number of polling stations in the country facing this problem is less than three per cent, Barry said. According to reports by the Bosnian Federation's Interior Ministry, about 70 people blocked a road in northern Bosnia, protesting because their named hadnot been included in the list of voters. The incumbent chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic, voted in Sarajevo around noon Saturday. "Everything I had to say about the elections, I have already said," he told inquiring reporters. Croat member of the Presidency, Kresimir Zubak, having put in his vote, told reporters these elections were extremely important, and he hoped that the political life in Bosnia-Herzegovina would become pluralised in the period after the elections. President of the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, Biljana Plavsic, and a "Sloga" coalition's candidate for the Bosnia- Herzegovina Presidency, Zivko Radisic, voted in Banja Luka in the morning hours. Radisic told reporters he considered these elections as "a great day both for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republika Srpska". (hina) lml 121602 MET sep 98