MURDER OF SARAJEVO TAXI DRIVER CAUSES PROTESTS

SARAJEVO, Dec 29 (Hina) - Sarajevo's taxi drivers on Tuesday blocked traffic in the centre of Sarajevo in protest of a murder of one of their colleagues. Denis Imamovic, 22, a war invalid who began working as a taxi driver after the war, was found strangled and shot to death on Sunday on a road connecting Sarajevo with Pale (Republika Srpska), near the border dividing the two Bosnian entities. The taxi drivers on Monday blocked roads leading from Sarajevo to Pale, requesting a more efficient protection and permanent police control checkpoints on the roads. Imamovic is the sixth Sarajevo taxi driver killed after the war and whose vehicle was stolen, while the perpetrators fled to the Bosnian Serb entity. Sarajevo police commissioner Samir Rizvo told reporters on Tuesday there was evidence that some police officers in Republika Srpska abetted in the crime by giving out documents for the stolen vehicles. Some of these vehicles is being transported to and sold in FR Yugoslavia. The office of the High International Representative in Bosnia- Herzegovina, Carlos Westendorp, condemned the murder on Tuesday and called on the local police to uncover the perpetrators as soon as possible. The Office, however, warned that the international community should not be blamed for this. Retribution such as the recent assault on a UN vehicle, should not be allowed, the statement added. (hina) lml