MANDATE OF SFOR NOT TO BE PROLONGED AFTER JUNE 1998-SOLANA

SARAJEVO, March 25 (Hina) - NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said on Tuesday that the time frame for the stay of an international military force in Bosnia-Herzegovina remained limited in next fifteen months, and it was up to the country's political leaders to create conditions for lasting peace. Until June 1998 when the mandate of NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) expires, much will have had to be done, Solana told a news conference in Sarajevo after his talks with the SFOR chief commander General William Crouch and officials in charge of implementing civil provisions of the Dayton accords. NATO Secretary-General cited the return of refugees, reorganisation of local police forces in Bosnia's two entities with help and supervision of international police and effective control of disarmament as the most important tasks in the coming period. The NATO commander in Europe, General George Joulwan, who is together with Solana on the tour to Sarajevo, said on Tuesday that it's high time parties in Bosnia showed their sincere attachment to the lasting peace. Gen. Joulwan said that until the last minute of their mandate SFOR troops would continue ensuring conditions for consolidating peace, but he stressed that responsibility for it laid, primarily, with people in Bosnia. (hina) jn mš 251535 MET mar 97