STOLAC-MOSTAR-CAPLJINA ROAD UNBLOCKED

MOSTAR, Nov (Hina) - The Stolac-Mostar-Capljina road (southern Bosnia-Herzegovina) has been deblocked Sunday night after the residents of the village of Masline and representatives of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) reached an agreement for the residents to remove barricades, and SFOR to remove special civil action units from the area. The residents of Masline on Sunday blocked the Stolac-Mostar- Capljina road after SFOR special unit troops stopped at a control point a civilian of Croat nationality. During a search of Marijan Prca's vehicle, the soldiers found a gun, for which Prca had a license, and illegal ammunition. The protesters in Masline (near Stolac) removed vehicles they used to block the road at about 30 minutes after midnight Monday morning, after an agreement with SFOR Multi-National Division South-East commander, Pierre Lang, an information officer of the SFOR multi- national division told Hina on Monday. He, however, could not confirm whether SFOR had indeed withdrawn the special unit from the Stolac area. SFOR soldiers boosted control measures last week on roads around Stolac, Mostar and Capljina in order to prevent violence against returnees. However, residents of the region are dissatisfied with such actions of the Stabilisation Force. The Stolac police said an ambulance carrying an ill child from Stolac to Mostar three days ago crossed a SFOR control point and was left with punctured tires after driving over road spikes. (hina) lml