SERB PEOPLE'S PARTY WANTS EXTENSION OF UNTAES MANDATE

( Editorial: --> 7619 ) ZAGREB, Dec 11 (Hina) - The Serb People's Party (SNS) believes the UNTAES mandate in eastern Croatia should continue even after January 15. "The UNTAES mandate should continue not only in its monitoring function, but also in some governing powers," SNS president Milan Djukic told reporters in Zagreb Thursday. Djukic believed the UN would consider the actual situation of human rights of Serbs in Croatia and their status on the basis of actual facts. Through administrative difficulties and psychological intimidation, the return of Serbs is made almost impossible, Djukic said. The legal system and local self-government do not function in the area Serbs should return to, while in towns Serbs continue to be dismissed from work, the SNS president told reporters. Between 20,000 and 22,000 Serbs had left the UN-administered part of eastern Croatia to date. "They don't want to encounter uncertainty, since they know what is happening to Serbs in Krajina, Osijek, Zagreb", Djukic said. (hina) ha jn 111649 MET dec 97