RECONSTRUCTION OF MOSLEM HOUSES IN STOLAC BEGINS

SARAJEVO, June 5 (Hina) - Reconstruction of 35 Moslem (Bosniak) houses in Stolac, southern Bosnia-Herzegovina, began on Thursday, where their owners should return soon. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in Sarajevo that repairs, carried out by a Danish humanitarian agency, called 'Danish council for refugees', would last between three to four weeks, and the start of reconstruction was the direct result of this week's agreement of all parties concerned, including representatives of Croat authorities in Stolac. The UNHCR spokesman, Mans Nyberg, said on Thursday that the repairs on the 35 houses were part of a pilot-project according to which a hundred Moslem families should return to Stolac. Their homes had been reconstructed last year, but an attempt of first nine families to return failed in the end of January, and most of the reconstructed houses have been looted and re-damaged since then. There was a year and seven months after an agreement on Moslems' return to Stolac had been signed. A decision that the project may go on should be progress which would open up the hope that first refugees return already in the end of this month, Nyberg said and added that one should be cautious due to the previous experience. The UNHCR was confident of the good will of all parties and we hoped that such atmosphere would stimulate the return of refugees, the UNHCR spokesman said and stressed that authorities in Stolac were responsible for the security of the returnees and their property. A spokesman for the OSCE, David Foley, said that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had given firm support to the return of Moslems to Stolac. He added that the OSCE would attentively followed the situation in the southern town and if necessary it would take adequate measures in connection with elections, as it had done in Drvar. (hina) jn mš 051512 MET jun 97