U.S. ENVOY GELBARD BEGINS NEW MEDIATOR MISSION IN BH

SARAJEVO, Aug 18 (Hina) - Special U.S. envoy for the implementation of the Dayton accord Robert Gelbard arrived in Sarajevo on Monday afternoon. He will begin his new mediator mission aimed to step up the implementation of the peace agreement with taking part in a session of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, at which proposals for a new flag and coat of arms and a common BH currency - issues which remained unadjusted after Richard Holbrooke's visit last week - should be discussed. Gelbard is expected to exert more pressure on the Bosnian Serb side to accept compromise bills on citizenship and passports worked out by the international high representative's office. Members of the Bosnian Council of Ministers failed to agree on the matter, because Bosnian Serbs rejected all propositions, and the discussion was transferred to the Presidency. On Wednesday, Gelbard will chair a session of the BH Federation Forum. At a commemoration to take place on the Igman mountain above Sarajevo tomorrow, the U.S. diplomat will on President Bill Clinton's behalf pay homage to members of Holbrooke's negotiation team who died while travelling a dangerous mountain road to Sarajevo two years ago. Robert Frasure, Joseph Kruzel and Nelson Drew were killed when their armoured vehicle slid off the road and ended in a mine field. General Wesley Clark, then Holbrooke's military advisor and now NATO commander in Europe, was the only survivor. (hina) ha jn 181927 MET aug 97