U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY CRITICISES BH FEDERATION PRESIDENT GANIC

SARAJEVO, Nov 16 (Hina) - The United States President's special envoy in negotiations on two agreements between Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina (BH), Richard Sclar, joined criticisms levelled at the Bosniak Muslim side for postponing the signing of the agreements. Claims that the agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Croat-Muslim Federation of BH would contribute to weakening BH were unfounded, Sclar told Television of BH in an interview aired on Monday. The agreement is in truth a necessary step towards building trust which is a condition for the survival of BH as a multiethnic community, Sclar said. He added the special relations agreement did not deprive BH of any rights, and was fully compliant with the Dayton peace agreement. The agreement enables neighbours to cooperate, and is especially important to the Bosnian Croat population, a minority in the Federation, Sclar said. He added it was a well-known fact that the Bosniak Muslim side had been receiving all this time assistance through special channels from countries such as Turkey. Sclar warned BH's survival depended on the trust to be built in the country and trust with countries formed after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. The U.S. envoy openly criticised federal President Ejup Ganic's stance in the new situation, recalling that Ganic was a member of the negotiating team and had spoken positively about the agreement's contents. Sclar said the agreement should have been signed after being initialled and only subsequently forwarded to the federal parliament for ratification. For some reason Ganic decided the parliament should discuss the agreement prior to the signing, thus bringing into question his reputation both in BH and before the international community, he said. Sclar warned no country would be willing to negotiate with BH or one of its two entities if its negotiators were incapable of entirely complying with their obligations. BH authorities themselves undermine their authority, while the world is investing billions of dollars in the reconstruction of the country, the envoy said. He pointed out there was no reason whatsoever to ask U.S. taxpayers to earmark money for BH if its authorities did not want progress, to which the special relations agreement would definitely contribute. (hina) ha