INT. COMMUNITY FOR FIRST TIME RECOGNISES ENDANGERMENT OF CROATS

MADRID, Dec 16 (Hina) - Besides the fact that Bosnian Croats have for the first time not been mentioned as a problem, the success of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) for Bosnia-Herzegovina conference is that the international community has finally become aware of their endangerment in the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croat member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, Ante Jelavic, said Wednesday after the PIC conference in Madrid. There are more than 400,000 Bosniaks (Moslems) exiled from Republika Srpska which, along with the arrival of new refugees from Kosovo and meagre results in the return of Croats to central Bosnia, speaks for itself about the current position of the least numerous ethnic people in the country, Jelavic told reporters. "During talks with representatives of the united States, Strobe Talbott and Robert Gelbard, we were directly asked how to stop the departures of Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina," he said. Asked to comment on a speech by the Bosniak member of the Bosnia- Herzegovina Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, Jelavic said it surprised him, especially the part related to the organisation of a conference on the return of displaced persons to Mostar, as this largest city in Herzegovina, according to Jelavic, was "the only multi-ethnic city in Bosnia-Herzegovina". "More than 8,000 Bosniaks in the western part of Mostar are in high places, such as directors of schools and the like," Jelavic said. He added he believed the conference on the return to Mostar was unnecessary, but a conference on the return of displaced persons to Sarajevo could be considered. The current initiative is aimed at strengthening the position of Croats in the Bosnian Federation, Jelavic stressed. "The present situation is intolerable, not only because of the superiority in numbers of Bosniaks, but also because of the lack of Croat national and cultural institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina". (hina) lml