OHR IN MOSTAR COMMENTS ON STOLAC ROAD BLOCK-OFF

MOSTAR, Nov 30 (Hina) - Sunday's block-off of roads leading to Stolac (a town south of Mostar) by vehicles, trucks and buses was orchestrated by criminal elements from Stolac in an attempt to hamper an action by the Stabilisation Force, an international official told reporters on Monday. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina supports the current deployment of SFOR troops aimed at securing safety in the Stolac area, where too many incidents were reported in the past 12 months, said Chris Riley, spokesman for the OHR regional office in Mostar. The local authorities are not able to control the security situation and the SFOR had to take action in order to put an end to violence, Riley said. He called on the authorities of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton meet with the Stolac authorities and try and prevent future road-blocking. The Stolac-Mostar-Capljina road was blocked-off yesterday by the residents of the village of Masline, who protested against the arrest of a Croat civilian, arrested by the SFOR for illegal possession of gun ammunition. (hina) mm rml.