DISPLACED FROM BOSANSKA POSAVINA DEMAND RETURN HOME

( Editorial: --> 4607 ) ZAGREB, Nov 29 (Hina) - Refugees and displaced persons from the Bosanska Posavina region on Friday night held a protest rally, demanding a return to their homes and the constitutionality of Croats and Bosniaks (Muslims) in that part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Called "Posavina, Dayton, Bosnia", the rally was organised by the Association of Displaced Persons and Refugees from Bosanska Posavina. The protest was attended by Bosnia's Ambassador to Croatia Kasim Trnka and other officials and UN representatives in Bosnia and Croatia. Bosanska Posavina is a region in northern Bosnia, populated mostly by Croats and Bosniaks before the war. Bosnian Serbs, who accounted for 20 per cent of the region's pre-war population, occupied the majority of its territory, with the help of the then Yugoslav People's Army in an attempt to link Serbia with territory under Serb control in western Bosnia. This narrow belt, known as the "Serb corridor", stayed under the Dayton agreement in the Bosnian Serb Republic. "There is no peace in Bosnia if people don't return to their homes", the president of Association, Mato Gogic, said at the rally. He said the displaced and refugees were dissatisfied with the tempo of implementing the Dayton peace agreement, signed more than two years ago. Gogic also expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe since, he said, some 1,000 people did not have the right to vote at the last election, despite documents stating they were Bosnian citizens. Gogic also recalled Brcko, where the establishment of a multiethnic police force has been an issue since May. He also warned about the issue of Bosanska Posavina refugees who lost refugee status in Croatia and were unable to return to Bosnia. There were 40,000 of them in the wider Zagreb area, Gogic said, and suggested a branch office of the Sarajevo-based international High Representative for Bosnia be opened in Zagreb. Ambassador Trnka said the Dayton agreement hit Bosanska Posavina in the worst possible way. However, he added, the agreement contained several elements which enabled the realisation of set goals through a democratic struggle. The Bosnian Presidency and the Bosnian Council of Ministers would advocate that Bosniaks and Croats in the Bosnian Serb entity have constitutionality as well, Trnka said. (hina) ha jn 291328 MET nov 97