U.S. AMBASSADOR TO BOSNIA ON CROATIA'S PROPOSAL FOR SPECIAL TIES ( Editorial: --> 2924 )

( Editorial: --> 2924 ) SARAJEVO, Nov 22 (Hina)- U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Richard Kauzlarich, has said that Croatia's proposal for the establishment of special relations between Croatia and the Bosnian Croat-Moslem Federation is in conformity neither with the Dayton peace agreement nor with Bosnia-Herzegovina's constitution. In an interview he granted to the Sarajevo-based daily "Dnevni Avaz", Kauzlarich said that special parallel relations had been provided by the Dayton agreement on condition that they would be in conformity with the peace accord and the Bosnian Constitution. According to his interview published on Saturday, Kauzlarich added that the U.S Administration maintained that the status of the Croatian seaport of Ploce and the issue of special ties between Croatia and Bosnia should be resolved separately. He said that the United States was not discouraged by the fact that no agreement on the port of Ploce had been reached by the end of September when it should have been concluded in line with an agreement between Tudjman and Izetbegovic. We would continue to work on a resolution. We committed ourselves to that, he said adding that he could not know when the agreement might be reached. The U.S. Ambassador announced that Washington would assume a tougher stance on the obstruction of the return of refugees to Bosnia. He warned of strong sanctions to be imposed on parties which might thwart the return of the exiled, including the return of refugees to the Bosnian capital. (hina) mš 221323 MET nov 97