HAGUE TRIBUNAL DECLINES TO COMMENT ON POSSIBLE INVESTIGATIONS

ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Oct 1 (Hina) - The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia on Wednesday declined to comment on Croatian press reports that indictments against four Bosnian Moslem war crimes suspects were being prepared. It is our practice never to comment on investigations which have been initiated or have not been initiated, so our answer is 'no comment', a tribunal spokesperson told Hina's special correspondent in The Hague. The Zagreb weekly "Nacional" said in an article in its latest edition that two months ago the Office of the Prosecutor had forwarded a request to the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina for assistance in preparing indictments against four Moslems suspected of committing crimes against Croats in three villages in the Lasva river valley of central Bosnia. Although the tribunal refused to comment on the existence of the request to Sarajevo for assistance, Hina however got an unofficial confirmation from another well-informed source that such a request had been sent in early July. According to that source, the tribunal's prosecutor requested information on the command hierarchy of the Moslem military, police and civilian authorities in a period from late 1992 to early 1994. The prosecutor was interested in documents on the organisation of the military and paramilitary structure of Moslem forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina during that period and on civilian authorities in the municipalities of Konjic and Jablanica, particularly the description of duties of war-time presidencies and their role in the war. The prosecutor requested information on the governors and their aides in four prisoner camps: Muzej, Musala, Igman and Donja Jablanica, as well as documents referring to crimes or any other activities related to those camps. The prosecutor was also interested in whether the authorities of the Bosnian Federation had possibly instituted criminal proceedings against people in charge of the camps and whether they had perhaps been amnestied. (hina) vm 012215 MET oct 97