ITALIAN SFOR POLICE USE FORCE TO DISPERSE BOSNIAN CROAT PROTESTERS

( Editorial: --> 4875 ) MOSTAR/ZAGREB, Oct 2 (Hina) - Members of a new Italian police unit within the NATO-led peace Stabilisation Force (SFOR) on Thursday used force to disperse a group of Croat protesters who had blocked the Sarajevo-Ploce road near Capljina in southern Bosnia, the AFP news agency reported on Thursday quoting the SFOR. The protesters were displaced Croats from central Bosnia who objected to the return of some 50 Muslims to houses in the village of Tasovici which the Croats are currently occupying. The Italian policemen became part of a new SFOR mandate in June under the name Special Military Unit. An SFOR spokesman described the Italian police action by saying they had used force to free the road after a failed two-hour negotiating. According to the spokesman, who made no mention of any violence, several dozen policemen forcefully broke the protesters' human wall. Croatian Television (HTV) on Thursday evening aired a broadcast showing Italian policemen in helmets, shields, batons and firearms charging at the protesters while dispersing them, mainly women and children. The broadcast also showed that afterwards the policemen had to use shields to protect themselves from the stones thrown by the protesters. A HTV reporter said the protesters had been provoked by the unannounced Muslim returnees' violent behaviour. A woman told the TV camera that the Muslim returnees were calling Croat women bad names and threatening them if they were to stay the night in the houses. According to the HTV reporter, the SFOR spokesman in nearby Mostar justified the Italian policemen's use of force with the failure to convince the protesters to free the Sarajevo-Ploce road. According to the HTV report, the local office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees declined to comment on the SFOR action, while the office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) explained the issue was not within their jurisdiction. The HTV reporter mentioned however that OSCE office head David Foley had been seen at the site of the incident. In the early evening hours, the SFOR resumed controlling the road. (hina) ha 021224 MET oct 98