POWS RELEASE IN BOSNIA MAY RESUME TODAY, ICRC SAYS

SARAJEVO, Jan 27 (Hina) - International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers, said on Saturday morning that all three Bosnian sides were expected to resume the exchange of POWs in the course of the day. An ICRC spokesman, Pierre Gothier, said Bosnian Croats should free a large group of detainees from the Rodoc prison (near Mostar) who are to arrive at Sarajevo airport this afternoon. The Bosnian Government and Bosnian Serbs are expected to swap war prisoners in the areas of Banja Luka and Sanski Most, but there is no official report on that POWs release, according to the ICRC spokesman. #L# The spokesman Gothier told a Hina correspondent that it was sill unclear whether all recorded POWs who should have been freed on January 19, would be released on Saturday. He added that the POWs swaps would continue on Sunday, and perhaps on Monday, as all the sides showed readiness to fulfill obligations under the peace agreements. Gothier said the ICRC had not been yet informed officially about results of the talks between the President of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kresimir Zubak, and a Bosnian Serb leader, Momcilo Krajisnik, held at Pale on Friday when they discussed the issue of war prisoners. The ICRC spokesman added that Hasan Muratovic, a Bosnian minister, and Krajisnik had held separate talks on this matter. After the meetings the Bosnian officials announced that progress could be expected in resolution of the problem of missing persons. According to ICRC figures, there are still 645 detainees in prisons in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but only after the final release the International Red Cross will be able to confirm whether all persons, who have been recorded for release, are set free. (hina) mms 271128 MET jan 96