54 SERB FAMILIES WANT TO RETURN TO KUSONJE, W. SLAVONIA

ILOK, 23 Aug (Hina) - Fifty-four Serb refugee families want to return to the village of Kusonje near Pakrac, western Slavonia, representatives of the European Commission said at a meeting held in Ilok, eastern Slavonia, on Saturday. The European Commission, aided by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, is participating in a program of return of Serb refugees to western Slavonia. According to EC data, 145 families from Kusonje are currently in the area of eastern and western Slavonia, and 27 are in Republika Srpska, said the head of the project, Wolfgang Gressmann. The project includes the removal of mines from 100 houses, Gressmann said, adding that 10 houses have already been cleared of mines. Five houses are being cleared of mines and the removal of mines from another 20 will start in the coming weeks. UNHCR will repair the first four houses in autumn and the reconstruction will then be taken over by the European Commission which wants to reconstruct as many houses as possible by winter so that people could return as soon as possible, Gressmann said. The return to Kusonje is possible and safe, Gressmann said, commending the professional work of the Pakrac police superintendent Nikola Ivkanec and all police officers who are a guarantee of safety for all citizens regardless of their nationality. Some 40 Serb refugees from Kusonje, who attended the meeting, expressed wish to stay in Ilok until their houses are repaired or purchased by the State Agency for Certain Real Property Transactions. Preparations for a reciprocal procedure of return of displaced Croats to the village of Marinci in the Danube river region have already begun. (hina) rm 231710 MET aug 97