BH CITIZENSHIP LAW KEY ARTICLES CONTINUE TO BE CONTROVERSIAL

SARAJEVO, Aug 5 (Hina) - Members of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday continued a discussion on a citizenship law expected to be passed on 1 August. There was no progress after the five-hour session. There still existed fundamental differences, but "some progress has been made", Haris Silajdzic, co-chairman of the Council, told reporters after the session. "The citizenship bill proposed by the high representative's office is acceptable for the Croat and Bosniak sides, but the Serb side doesn't accept it", said Silajdzic. According to Neven Tomic, the Council of Ministers' co- president, still unadjusted were issues concerning the citizenship of entities in relation to the state, the attitude towards refugees and their citizenship, and the issue of a dual citizenship. According to Boro Bosic, another co-chairman of the Council, the law on citizenship solves other important political issues as well, especially concerning refugees and persons with a dual citizenship. The heart of the matter, according to Bosnian Foreign Trade Minister Hasan Muratovic, was that there was lack of agreement on how to solve the citizenship of refugees. The Serb side proposed that the matter be solved when and if these people return to BH, he said. In Muratovic' opinion, it was now up to high representative Carlos Westendorp to pass judgement, since he was authorized to reach a compromise solution which would bound all three sides in BH. A new session to discuss the citizenship law was called for 7 August. (hina) ha 052030 MET aug 97