UNMOP HAS TO LEAVE BY JANUARY 15 - SIMONOVIC

( Editorial: --> 8168 ) NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Hina) - Croatia feels that the mandate of UN military observers (UNMOP) on Prevlaka must by any means end by January 15 next year, Croatian Ambassador to the UN, Ivan Simonovic, said in New York on Tuesday. Upon a report by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the UNMOP mandate, Simonovic recalled that Croatia has for a long time been patient and willing to cooperate in order to resolve the issue on the Prevlaka peninsula as its last open security issue. However, he said, negotiations with Belgrade are not proceeding at a satisfactory speed, he said. FRY authorities are responsible for this, and Simonovic said that the UN Security Council ought to exert more pressure on them. Prevlaka is the southernmost sliver of Croatian territory, bordering with FR Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia has territorial pretensions to Prevlaka, while Croatia regards it as a security issue. Simonovic recalled that representatives of Montenegro have withdrawn the Yugoslav negotiating team, due to their dissatisfaction with the non-readiness of Serbian representatives to end the negotiations quickly and successfully, so that border crossings between Montenegro and Croatia could finally be opened. The land border is known and internationally recognised, Simonovic said, and the sea border must be established according to the international law. If the negotiations do not lead to an agreement, within a reasonable period of time, which would be in accordance with the principle of border violation, decisions of the Badinter Commission and resolutions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, Croatia will have to cancel the mandate of international monitors and take full control over its territory, Simonovic said. (hina) lml 132206 MET oct 98