SFOR REPORTS NEW CASES OF ARSON NEAR JAJCE

PALE, 6 Aug (Hina) - Seven houses were burnt down and an apartment building was destroyed with explosive near the central Bosnian town of Jajce on Tuesday night, Stabilisation Force (SFOR) spokesman John Blakely told a press conference in Pale, outside Sarajevo, on Wednesday. #L# SFOR members who had been deployed in Jajce area after last weekend's incidents would continue to observe the situation and secure freedom of movement, Blakely said adding that the responsibility to protect refugees lay exclusively with the local authorities. New cases of arson and explosions have been registered less than a day after the signing of an agreement on lessening tensions and drawing up a project on the return of refugees, signed by the highest Federation officials from Central Bosnia Canton at a meeting in Sarajevo, which was held under the mediation of the Office of the High Representative. The signing of the agreement was an encouraging sign, but last night's incidents posed a real test of readiness of interested sides to implement the agreement, said Simon Haselock, Westendorp's spokesman. This agreement does not mean the setting of new deadlines and aims imposed by the international community. We expect from the signatories to the agreement to show their readiness to implement the agreement they themselves have reached, Haselock said. The first meeting of a special working group which is to discuss the return of refugees to Central Bosnia Canton would be held in Travnik on Friday, said Kris Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. However, he warned that UNHCR representatives had tried to organise a similar meeting in Jajce yesterday, but were prevented by a large group of people who gathered in front of the municipal authorities' building, protesting against the meeting and throwing eggs at the building. (hina) rm 061430 MET aug 97