UNTAES URGES VUKOVAR CITY COUNCIL TO RESUME WORK

VUKOVAR, Oct 15 (Hina) - The UN Transitional Administration for eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) on Wednesday demanded from the Vukovar city council to resume work immediately and without delay. On Tuesday the city council again postponed its session at which it should have discussed some important issues for the functioning of this eastern Croatian city. In a statement released after the second postponement of that session, UNTAES expressed regret at the failure of the city council to do its job. The meeting was not held as Croat councillors rejected Serb councillors' request that besides Croatian state insignia, a flag of the Serb minority should be displayed in the conference room. The UNTAES statement said that national minorities' flags should be displayed at official meetings such as a Vukovar city council session, if minorities' representatives requested so. Such an act would be in line with the Croatian state policy and an agreement between leaders of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party and the Serb Democratic Independent Party (SDSS), the statement added. UNTAES cited Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, head of the national committee in charge of implementing the government programme for the establishment of trust, as saying on Tuesday that tolerance was the key principle for success in the implementation of the programme. (hina) jn mš 151916 MET oct 97