CROATIA TO ASK SECURITY COUNCIL TO END UNTAES MANDATE ON JULY 15

ZAGREB, June 12 (Hina) - Croatia is fulfilling all of its obligations from the Letter of Intent on the reintegration of the UN-administered Danube river region, and there is no reason for prolongation of the UNTAES mandate in its current form, the Croatian government said at a session on Thursday. The government accepted a report on implementation of the programme for peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube area. The report was submitted by Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic. The government stressed that there was no reason for the extension of the UNTAES mandate in its present form, and in particular, of its military component. Foreign Minister Mate Granic told the session that a letter would be forwarded soon to the UN Security Council requesting that the current UNTAES mandate should cease on July 15 and that a civilian monitor mission would be accepted. The government concluded that democratically elected local government in the Danube river area must be functioning and that local government leaders must perform their duties in towns they had been elected in. Minister Radic was authorised to demand on behalf of the government that UNTAES guarantee security for local government staff and that the UNTAES civilian component ensure full compliance with decisions passed by local authorities in the areas of their jurisdiction. Radic would also notify UN Transitional Administrator Jacques Klein of the government's wish for Klein to sign an annex to the report in order to verify all that Croatia and UNTAES had done so far. The government ordered the Foreign Ministry to invite signatories (UNTAES and UNHCR) to an agreement on return of refugees and displaced persons, stressing that returns could proceed only in accordance with the procedure and principles determined by the agreement. In all other cases organisers of returns should take responsibility for possible incidents and failures. In his report, Radic presented data on post-war reconstruction and return of refugees and displaced persons. More than a billion kuna from the state budget or public companies has been invested in the economic reintegration of the Danube region into Croatia. The reconstruction of 2,500 buildings is under way and people will begin returning to 540 rebuilt houses as of Monday. Another 1,500 houses will be repaired before the end of the summer, making it possible for about 10,000 displaced persons to return before the beginning of the school year in September. In Vukovar, 2,011 houses are being repaired, of which 500 by international institutions, and preparations for the reconstruction of less damaged houses are under way. So far, 4,839 families (10,445 people) in the Danube region have submitted requests for return or for sale of property. Those include requests for sale of property by 486 families currently living in Yugoslavia. Radic said that 2,694 families (4,623 people) wanted to return to areas of Croatia they had left. "We are willing to accommodate and organise the return of all those families in the next three months," he said, also expressing a readiness to process in the next three months requests by about 2,100 families for sale of property. Radic said that UNTAES had done a great job, that it had created conditions for the peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia but that "it has begun to represent a brake on the further implementation" of the reintegration process. Radic expressed hope that conditions would be created for the return of at least a half of 80,785 displaced Croats to the Danube region this year. The government concluded that the report should be amended with amounts of money the government had so far provided for the financing of UNTAES, harvest and a weapons buy-back programme, as well as with amounts of tax relief granted through public companies and information on the issuing of citizenship documents. It was said that a memorandum signed with UNTAES on Wednesday confirmed that a Croat would assume command of the Transitional Police Force and that Croats would also take command of several police stations in the region. Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic said that the General Amnesty Act had so far been applied to 11,668 persons in the Danube region. In order to ensure funds for the reconstruction of the region, the government sent draft amendments to the Privatisation Act to parliament for urgent consideration. (hina) vm 122013 MET jun 97