SFOR HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE ON DRVAR INCIDENT

LIVNO, Oct 9 (Hina) - The latest events in the village of Martin Brod in the municipality of Drvar, western Bosnia-Herzegovina, when members of the NATO-led Stabilization Force attacked a commissioner of the Herzeg-Bosna cantonal government for Drvar (Borivoj Malbasic), were the topic of a Thursday press conference the SFOR's multinational division south-west and representatives of the International Police Task Force held in Livno. The incident took place on Tuesday night following the arrival of 27 UNHCR-accompanied Serbs to Martin Brod. Local authorities protested since they had not been contacted concerning the return. This brought to a tense situation in the village since the houses the Serbs returned to had been given to be accommodated by displaced Croats. According to SFOR spokesman Mike Moran, the SFOR-unit commander in the area assessed that the Malbasic vehicle's forced passage through the village as an enemy action representing a danger for his soldiers, for which reason one soldier broke the windshield, forced Malbasic out of the vehicle and to lie on the ground. Malbasic suffered concussion as a result of that. SFOR and IPTF representatives told reporters the return of 15 Serb families to Martin Brod was coordinated with UNTAES and SFOR's and IPTF's cooperation. (hina) ha 092245 MET oct 97