SARAJEVO: REACTIONS TO CROATIA'S PROPOSAL ON SPECIAL RELATIONS ( Editorial: --> 8681 )

( Editorial: --> 8681 ) SARAJEVO, Nov 6 (Hina) - International High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina Carlos Westendorp has been informed of Croatian draft agreements on special relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Federation and on the establishment of an inter-state council for cooperation between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but he believes that it is too early for a comprehensive evaluation, his spokesman, Duncan Bullivant, said in Sarajevo on Thursday. Ismet Grbo, spokesman for the Moslem-led Party of Democratic Action (SDA), said that everything that was in the interest of productive cooperation between the two states would be accepted, but "any confederation, or whatever it may be called, is out of the question." Bullivant said that the position of the High Representative was that agreements on special relations could be concluded only at the level of two states. He had expressed that view earlier, during discussions on special relations between the Serb Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgrade, warning them that they had to respect that principle, Bullivant said. The spokesman said that the office of the High Representative would take a stand on the proposed agreements soon. Grbo told a news conference that the text of the draft agreement on special relations between Croatia and the Moslem-Croat Federation was being studied. "Our position is that Dayton buried the question of confederation," the SDA spokesman said, referring to the Dayton peace agreement. He said that his party was of the view that any agreement that might call into the question the sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina was unacceptable. Commenting on the fact that the proposed agreement envisaged special relations between Croatia and the Federation as one of the two entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Grbo said that the SDA believed that such agreements could be concluded only between states. Sarajevo media on Thursday reported on the content of the proposed agreement on the basis of an explanation attached to the agreement by the Croatian side, but they did not publish the full text of the document. The Oslobodjenje daily assessed Zagreb's proposal very negatively on its front page. "What is being proposed is a de facto confederal relationship," it said, claiming that the Bosniac side's acceptance of the proposal would "enable Croatia's jurisdiction over Bosnia-Herzegovina." On Wednesday night Sarajevo television gave an opportunity to Bosnian Croat officials to present their views on the proposed agreement. However, it condemned their consultations in Zagreb with President Tudjman before the draft was sent to Sarajevo. Neven Tomic, vice-president of the Council of Ministers, said that Zagreb's proposal precisely determined the fate of a confederal agreement, which was thus transformed into that which was allowed under the Dayton agreement. Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic argued that the two entities had the power to conclude inter-state agreements if they were subsequently ratified by the Parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) vm jn 061755 MET nov 97