MOST OF HEAVY WEAPONS WITHDRAWN FROM BOSNIA BUFFER ZONES

SARAJEVO, Feb 18 (Hina) - Bosnian parties have withdrawn most of their heavy weapons from zones of separation after a warning from the NATO-led peace Implementation Force (IFOR) on Saturday. IFOR spokesman Marc Rayner told a press conference in Sarajevo on Sunday that 21 pieces of heavy artillery, mostly tanks and big guns, still remained in the separation zones. IFOR had reported more than 60 artillery pieces in those areas on Saturday. IFOR commander in chief US Admiral Leighton Smith has ordered that all remaining guns and tanks be removed or NATO troops will seize them or destroy them. Rayner said that 13 heavy weapons remained in northern Bosnia and eight in southeastern Bosnia while all weapons had been pulled out of the separation zones in the western part of the country. NATO troops on Saturday intercepted and captured 15 Bosnian Serb soldiers who entered the zone of separation in northern Bosnia. The Serbs were dispossessed of their weapons and released later on. (hina) vm 181331 MET feb 96