DISPLACED VISIT CEMETERIES IN UN-CONTROLLED PARTS OF OSIJEK COUNTY ( Editorial: --> 7405 )

( Editorial: --> 7405 ) OSIJEK, Nov 1 (Hina) - On All Saints' Day, displaced people on Saturday visited, in an organised manner, cemeteries in Beli Manastir, Branjin Vrh, Sumarina, Bilje, Kopacevo, Grabovac, Kozarac, Novi Ceminac, Darda, Draz, Batina, Gajic, Topolj, Knezevi Vinogradi, Karanac, Suza, Zmajevac, Petlovac, Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, Luc, Torjanci, Novi Bezdan, Popvac and Knezevo, in the UNTAES-controlled parts of Osijek-Baranja County, eastern Croatia. The president of the national committe in charge of establishing trust in war-affected areas, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, UN Tranisitional Administrator of the region, William Walker, and Beli Manastir town authorities placed wreaths at the cemetery in Beli Manastir. After visiting the cemetery, Skare-Ozbolt said that the visit of the displaced people to graveyards in the areas under the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES) was organised "exceedingly well". She added that a great number of people were arriving today at cemeteries in the UNTAES-controlled parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Sirmium Counties. She said she would also travel to Ilok as well as to Vukovar where a Mass would be said today for the first time after six years. Walker said that much more people would come to the cemeteries in towns and villages under the UNTAES this year than previous years. He added that all preparations had been done in order that the visits to cemeteries on All Saints' Day be thoroughly organised. He expressed hope that this day would be marked in peace and without any problems. Thanking the Croatian Government and Skare-Ozbolt for their contribution to the organisations of the visits, Walker said that UNTAES did not limit the number of people visiting the cemeteries, but insisted on organised trips and on prevention of accidents at cemeteries believed not to be safe for visits. In Bilje, the head of the government's office for the displaced and refugees, Lovre Pejkovic, and local authorities laid wreaths at the local cemetery, and parish priest, Josip Martinovic, said a Mass in Bilje's church. Pejkovic said that the office for the displaced had provided logistic support to this year's organised visits to those cemeteries. He added that UNTAES chose cemeteries that might be visited with "extraordinary caution", and explained that the intention of UNTAES was to ensure security measures and avoid undesirable incidents. In Darda, Croatian exiled people visited graves of their families at the cemetery secured by the Transitional Police Force and UNTAES civilian police. In Kozarac, about a hundred displaced villagers visited the cemetery. An OSCE monitor, along with the Transitional Police and UNTAES civilian police, was present at Kozarac's cemetery. The organised visit to cemeteries in the mentioned villages and towns will last till 03.00 pm Saturday when busses should return to Osijek. (hina) mš 011522 MET nov 97