BRCKO SUPERVISOR EXPECTED TO TAKE OFFICE ON MARCH 22

VIENNA, March 7 (Hina) - The mandate of a supervisor overseeing the implementation of the arbitration decision on the status of the northern Bosnian town of Brcko should begin on March 22, a high-level conference concluded in Vienna on Friday. The international High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Carl Bildt, appointed US diplomat Robert Farrand, as his deputy and supervisor for Brcko. Farrand's appointment and a decision to increase the number of international police monitors in the Brcko area were the only concrete conclusions of the conference which closed on Friday. About 30 international police monitors have so far been deployed in the Brcko area and their number is expected to increase to 230. The supervisor, in line with the decision by the arbitration commission, will be allowed to cancel all decrees and regulations passed by local authorities if they are contrary to the Dayton peace agreement, the Bosnian Constitution or the goals of the supervisor's mandate. The supervisor is mandated to take measures to ensure free movement of people and goods in the area. He will pay special attention to the gradual return of refugees and displaced people and at the same time ensure conditions for people currently living in the area to stay. One of the main tasks will be to establish a new multiethnic administration in Brcko on the basis of the results of elections which should take place as soon as possible in accordance with the rules and regulations envisaged for the local elections in entire Bosnia-Herzegovina. The conference stressed that the economic reconstruction of the Brcko area would be linked with the successful implementation of the arbitration decision. (hina) vm 072214 MET mar 97