CROATIA PROTESTS TO BOSNIA OVER KILLING OF TWO RETURNEES

ZAGREB, Sept 1 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sanader on Monday delivered a note of sharp protest to Bosnian Ambassador to Zagreb Kasim Trnka over Saturday's killing of two Croat refugees who had returned from abroad to the village of Nula in the Moslem-controlled Travnik area of central Bosnia. Sanader expressed deep regrets over the fact that it was another in a series of attacks on Croat returnees, recalling the recent blowing up of houses in Bugojno and Kakanj, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. He said the Croatian government was concerned about those incidents since they did not contribute to the successful implementation of the peace agreement and the agreement on drawing up a plan for the return of refugees and displaced persons, reached at the last meeting of the Forum of the Federation. The safe return of all displaced persons is an important process for the further consolidation of the Bosnian Croat-Moslem Federation and one of the basic pillars for building Bosnia- Herzegovina as a state of two multi-ethnic entities, Sanader said, recalling that the return of Moslems to Jajce was progressing successfully. It is evident that the Croatian government, in cooperation with the Bosnian Croats, is making great efforts to ensure the implementation of all agreements, Sanader said. He added that Croatia would continue to actively support the full and consistent implementation of the Washington and Dayton accords, and particularly the timely implementation of all agreements reached in Split during a meeting of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian Presidency Chairman Alija Izetbegovic. Sanader said that the Croatian government was satisfied with Izetbegovic's quick response regarding the tragic incidents in Travnik, and that it expected that the perpetrators would be quickly discovered and properly punished. Trnka expressed regrets over the grave incidents, stressing that it was crucial to preserve the spirit of the Split and Dayton accords for the further course of the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the statement concluded. (hina) vm 011522 MET sep 97