CROATIA STRONGLY CONDEMNS CAR BOMB INCIDENT IN MOSTAR - STATEMENT

STATEMENT $ ZAGREB, 20 Sept (Hina) - The Croatian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the planting of a car bomb in Mostar and holds the act to be a form of the most ruthless terrorist activity launched against the consolidation of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the overall peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina. #L# The perpetrators of this severe act of crime are trying to hamper the implementation of agreements signed last month in Split by the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and the President of the Bosnian Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, a statement from the Croatian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. The terrorist act happened shortly after the signing of the agreements, which adopted justified complaints of the Bosnian Croat political leadership, in which the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman directly participated and had a key role, as well as after the successfully implemented local elections in Bosnia- Herzegovina, in particular in Mostar. This criminal act is aimed at inducing the feeling of insecurity among the Croat people in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as at destabilising what has already been achieved in the construction of the Federation. The Croatian Foreign Ministry hopes that all injured will recover and that the perpetrators will soon be discovered and adequately punished. The Ministry strongly believes that despite the terrorist act all processes of construction of the Federation and the implementation of all agreements signed recently, as well as of those which are being discussed, would proceed without impediments, which Croatia - as always before - will support, as it is a precondition for the completion of the peace process and the overall political stabilisation in the region, the statement said. (hina) rm 201439 MET sep 97