SERBS RELEASE THREE OF ABDUCTED BOSNIAC CIVILIANS

SARAJEVO, Jan 4 (Hina) - Bosnian Serbs released three Bosniac civilians on Thursday, after coming under pressure by the NATO-led Bosnian peace Implementation Force (IFOR) representatives, who had pushed for release of all of the detained. A senior officer with the French IFOR brigade met on Thursday the representatives of the Bosnian Serb forces' so-called Sarajevo- Romanija corps, urging immediate release of all persons abducted late on December, as they had attempted to either enter or exit the city. The Serbs have acknowledged to keep 12 persons, officials with the IFOR said. #L# The three released men told reporters in Sarajevo they had been in line of vehicles entering Sarajevo on December 25, riding in a truck of the Sarajevo's Alhos clothing industry. They claimed they had carried a 100,000 German marks worth cargo. After halting the truck the Serbs had not only seized the truck but stripped the men of their personal documents and money. Not one of them was a Bosnian army soldier, they said, accusing the IFOR troops of failing to respond. The IFOR vehicles were positioned at the beginning and at the end of the column, but failed to protect the civilians, they said. (Hina) mm bk 041603 MET jan 96