PIC SETS STRICT DEADLINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

( Editorial: --> 7391 ) BONN, Dec 10 (Hina) - The final document of a conference the Peace Implementation Council for Bosnia held in Bonn set deadlines for the implementation of specific segments of the Dayton peace agreement. If by the expiry of these deadlines the three sides in Bosnia fail to agree on certain issues, the international High Representative for Bosnia will pass temporary decisions on these issues. A law on citizenship has to be adopted by December 15, while current passports have to be replaced with new ones by June 1, 1998. Bosnian citizens who live abroad have to exchange theirs by the end of 1998. If Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims fail to agree on common licence plates by January 31, 1998, High Representative Carlos Westendorp will decide and introduce the plates. In its final document, the PIC authorises Westendorp to decide on a new Bosnian flag and symbols by December 31. A law on the Bosnian Council of Ministers has to be adopted by December 15, while Bosnian missions abroad have to be adjusted to the Dayton peace agreement by May 1, 1998. The Peace Implementation Council called on the governments of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to establish a new system of visas which will not be discriminatory to citizens of the Bosnian Serb Republic. According to the final document, Croatia's proposal for the establishment of special relations with the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and a similar agreement on special relations between the Bosnian Serb Republic and Yugoslavia were not in line with the Dayton peace agreement. All sides were demanded to adjust these agreements with the peace agreement immediately. The PIC concluded that agreements on the use of Croatia's southern port of Ploce for the requirements of the Bosnian Federation, and on free transit for Croatian citizens through the Neum area, which is within the Bosnian Federation, have to be in line with the Bosnian Constitution. According to the final document, these agreements do not depend on the signing of an agreement on a council for co-operation between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the final document, the PIC called on the High Representative to endorse negotiations on the matter. According to a document annexe, a multi-ethnic administration has to be established in Brcko, a town in the Bosnian Serb Republic in north-eastern Bosnia, by December 31. The final document also brings many economic provisions which should enable independent economic functioning in Bosnia. The document in particular insists on a reform of public finance and an anti-corruption struggle. The final document also called for a regional weaponry control process to begin in line with Article Five of the Dayton agreement. All sides in Bosnia are demanded to immediately surrender all people accused of war crimes to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague. This in particular referred to the Bosnian Serb Republic and Yugoslavia. The final document voiced increased concern over ethnic tension on Kosovo, and believed it was a possible source of unrest in the whole region. The Yugoslav delegation and representatives of the Bosnian Serb Republic objected to the fact that Kosovo was brought up at the conference and mentioned in the final document. They left the session and dissociated themselves from the entire final document. (Hina) ha jn 101909 MET dec 97