OHR: AGREEMENT ON SPECIAL RELATIONS WILL NOT BE SIGNED TODAY

SARAJEVO, Nov 16 (Hina) - The agreement on special relations between the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia will not be signed today because the Bosniak side will not send its representatives to Zagreb, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Sarajevo told Hina on Monday. The OHR said that it had been unofficially announced last night that the BH Federation President Ejup Ganic, who is to sign the agreement, would not travel to Zagreb this morning. It is expected that the OHR will issue a statement strongly condemning the postponement of the signing. Quoting an anonymous Muslim official, the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjenje" said that the federal delegation would not travel to Zagreb due to "technical obstacles". The same source said that the Bosniak (Muslim) side had learned only last night, in Croatian Television central news broadcast, that Deputy High Representative Jacques Klein was in Zagreb, expecting the signing of the special relations agreement. "Dnevni avaz", a daily close to the ruling Muslim structures, this morning brings on its front page an article entitled "A Difficult Decision for Ejup Ganic". According to the article, during this weekend's consultations with the members of parliamentary benches of the Coalition for an Integral and Democratic Bosnia-Herzegovina (CD Coalition) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Ganic encountered negative comments regarding the special relations agreement. Following a heated debate, CD Coalition MPs in the Federation Parliament reportedly rejected the agreement. The SDP objected that the agreement, in its present form, only benefited Croatian President Franjo Tudjman while the Federation had nothing from it. (hina) rml