GELBARD HOLDS TALKS WITH MEMBERS OF BH PRESIDENCY

SARAJEVO, Aug 19 (Hina) - U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard completed late on Monday evening his first round of talks with members of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina on the implementation of the Dayton accord and the meeting of deadlines set at a conference in Sintra. A joint session of the BH Presidency expected to take place last night was postponed because Gelbard's talks with Bosnian Serb representative Momcilo Krajisnik in Pale took longer than planned. After the talks, the U.S. President's envoy told reporters Washington was unsatisfied with the fact that laws on citizenship and passports had not been passed yet. The remaining issues in dispute, concerning the flag, the coat of arms and the appearance of a common currency, must also be settled more quickly, Gelbard said. He openly stated that he had pressurised Krajisnik to help solve the said issues. Gelbard said the United States believed the office of the international high representative in BH had to date been too generous. The deadlines must be complied with, he said, otherwise serious consequences were unavoidable, as in the case of laws on citizenship, passports and civil aviation. Commenting on the latest events in the Bosnian Serb entity and claims that police controlled by authorities in Pale listened in on Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic, Gelbard pointed out that, if the claims proved to be correct, the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska would have to take responsibility, which also referred to allegations on intimidation of judges of the Constitutional Court. Krajisnik indirectly confirmed as correct allegations that one of the judges had been intimidated. "We agree that there has been intimidation", he said, justifying this with the fact that Jovo Rosic, a judge who was actually beaten up, was a member of the head committee of the Serb Democratic Party. Krajisnik attempted to put the responsibility for such actions on "those who wanted to make the decision of the Constitutional Court irregular". (hina) ha 191206 MET aug 97