GRANIC MOST STRONGLY CONDEMNS LATEST CRIME OVER CROATS IN BOSNIA

( Vidi vijest: 6379 ) ZAGREB, Oct 28 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Tuesday most strongly condemned a crime which had happened in central Bosnia on Sunday when one Croat was killed and two were wounded. "I most strongly condemn yet another in a series of disturbing crimes over Croats in central Bosnia. I have received with great sorrow the news that on 26 October 1997 thirty-year-old Ivica Domic was killed in his home in the village of Nula near Travnik, while his father and fourteen-year-old brother were wounded," Granic told Hina in an interview. Granic recalled that "the crime was committed according to the same scenario" as the one which had happened in the same village in late August when Luka Jezercic and his son Pero were killed. "It is particularly worrying that the latest in a series of crimes over Croats in central Bosnia was committed at a moment when most of the open issues had been solved, including the establishment of a joint cantonal police force and the beginning of the first phase of the return of displaced persons and refugees to the Central Bosnia Canton, and immediately before a constituent session at which municipal government should have been established in Travnik on the basis of the results of recent local elections in Bosnia- Herzegovina," he said. "I am firmly convinced that this crime would not have happened if investigations into previous crimes over Croats in Travnik, Bugojno, Kakanj and other towns in central Bosnia had produced results. "Therefore, we appeal once again to all competent bodies, both local authorities and the authorities of the Bosnian Federation, and to senior representatives of both nations, particularly Bosniaks (Moslems), to do all in their power to shed light on the motives of these crimes as quickly and effectively as possible and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice and properly punished. "In that sense we also expect active support from representatives of all members of the international community involved in the implementation of the peace agreements for Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as their strongest condemnation of this crime," Granic stressed. "On this occasion the Republic of Croatia would like to stress that the return of all displaced persons and refugees is a basic condition for the establishment and functioning of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and any obstruction of that process plays into the hands of the opponents of the Washington and Dayton accords. "In that context I would like to stress once again that the return of Croats to central Bosnia is a pledge of the successful development and survival of the Bosnian Federation as well as of the overall implementation of the Washington and Dayton agreements," Granic said. (hina) vm 281552 MET oct 97