GEN. HANSET SUPPORTS CELEBRATION OF ASSUMPTION IN ALJMAS

ALJMAS $ VUKOVAR/ALJMAS, 29 July (Hina) - General Willy Hanset, commander of the UNTAES military force in the Croatian Danube river region, on Tuesday received the exiled parish priest of Aljmas, Ante Markic, the president of the Aljmas local committee Zdenko Petrijevcanin, and a representative of the Osijek County Prefect, Verica Sikora. The three officials asked Hanset to help in making possible the celebration of the Assumption in Aljmas on 15 August. #L# Hanset expressed satisfaction with the fact that both sides were willing to celebrate the holiday in a dignified manner. Hanset announced another meeting for the end of this week. The meeting is to be attended by the heads of the UNTAES civil affairs sectors, who are to arrange all the details concerning the celebration of the Assumption. Hanset's soldiers escorted the Aljmas delegation and Croatian journalists to Aljmas, where after six years the parish priest Markic visited the ruins of the burnt-down local Roman Catholic church and the rectory. He met with local residents, mainly Serbs from other parts of Croatia. Today, the village has 400 residents. In 1991, 800 Croats and several Serbs lived in Aljmas. A Serb Pero Dokmanac, member of the Erdut municipal council, said that the local self-government, the County and UNTAES would see that the Assumption in Aljmas is celebrated in a dignified manner. (hina) rm mm 291744 MET jul 97