U.N. CONDEMNS MOSTAR CAR BOMB BLAST

MOSTAR, Sept 23 (Hina) - The car bomb explosion in Croat-controlled west Mostar is still being investigated and members of the International Police Task Force are overseeing the investigation, UN spokeswoman Kelly Moore told a news conference in Mostar on Tuesday. The UN most vehemently condemns the crime in Mostar, Moore said, rejecting some media reports which alleged that local police had refused to cooperate with the IPTF in the investigation. Moore said that cantonal interior ministry officials had given assurances at a meeting on Monday for the return of Croat and Moslem police officers to the Moslem-held east and Croat-controlled west part of Mostar respectively. After the September 18 blast, which injured 29 people and heavily damaged an apartment building, Moslem policemen stopped working in Croat-dominated town districts and their Croat colleagues stopped going to work in Moslem majority districts. The head of the regional office of the international high representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Martin Garrod, described the explosion as a "monstrous crime," saying that it had occurred at the time when substantial progress had been made in the town. He demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice. Garrod condemned statements by some Bosnian Moslem and Croat leaders and officials from Croatia, which he said did not contribute to defusing the situation. (hina) vm 231411 MET sep 97