HERZEGOVINA CANTON INTERIOR MINISTER RESIGNS

( Editorial: --> 6273 ) MOSTAR, Oct 6 (Hina) - Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Interior Minister Valentin Coric on Tuesday announced he had tendered his resignation, which has to be considered by the canton Assembly. Coric said he had decided to resign because of recent incidents in Capljina and Stolac, where Bosniak (Moslem) returnees had been assaulted, because of the general deterioration of security circumstances in the canton and because of the conduct of municipal heads in places of return. He expressed regret about the incident in Tasovcici near Capljina, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, in which one Muslim returnee was killed and three other were wounded. The incident occurred following Thursday's blockade of the Sarajevo-Metkovic road near Tasovcici by Croat refugees, who protested against the return of Muslims to their pre-war homes. Coric also condemned the attack of Stabilisation Force troops on Croat displaced men, women and children in the town. "SFOR's intervention was shameful. It only took two hours for some of them to lose their temper and intervene, which can happen nowhere else in Europe, where roads have been known to be blocked up to 60 hours," he commented. (hina) lml jn 061813 MET oct 98