10 000 CROATS TO RETURN TO CENTRAL BOSNIA BY WINTER

MOSTAR, Oct 21 (Hina) - About 10,000 displaced persons, mostly Croats, are to return to the Central Bosnian Canton by early winter, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Mostar, Ariane Quentier, said on Tuesday. She added that officials from ten (out of a total of 11) Central Bosnian municipalities had submitted to the UNHCR a list of 2,122 slightly damaged houses into which displaced persons could return by winter. According to Quentier, the return of displaced persons would continue thorugh spring next year. Data of Central Bosnian Canton authorities show 86,000 displaced persons want to return to this canton, most of them Croats, she added. Quentier accused the Bosniak (Moslem) authorities in Vares of discrimination towards Croats who want to return to this town. Bosniak authorities in Vares (50 km north of Sarajevo) on 19 September this year made a decision according to which companies in the town had the right to allocate apartments. After that, Vares-based companies allocated 500 apartments almost exclusively to Bosniaks, Quentier said, adding that these apartments were owned by displaced Croats and Serbs. We are very upset by this fact, she stressed. (hina) lm mm 211953 MET oct 97