EJUP GANIC TO STAND IN FOR B-H PRESIDENT IZETBEGOVIC

SARAJEVO, Feb 23 (Hina) - At a session held this morning, the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina authorised a member of the Bosnian Presidency, Ejup Ganic, to perform duties of the Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, who was hospitalized yesterday due to heart troubles. President Izetbegovic was feeling better today, Ganic said. #L# 'We hope that everything will be in order', Ganic told a press conference after his meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel. The arrival of the Federation police forces in Sarajevo suburbs was proceeding successfully and the Bosnian authorities were doing all they could to convince the local Serb population to remain in their homes, Ganic said. The arrival of the federal police had secured a relatively good level of security in Vogosca despite tensions created by the activity of the Serb media based in Pale, he said, accusing Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic of creating tensions among the local Serbs. The IFOR should arrest the two men and extradite them to The Hague Criminal Court, he added. 'In such a case, it would be possible for the IFOR to remain in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the expiry of its one-year mandate'. Commenting on the situation in Mostar, Ganic said that it was necessary to establish the full freedom of movement in the city. Joint police patrols in the central district were only a first step towards that aim, he said. "We want more than that and we want that the whole city be open", Ganic said, adding this complicated project could still be realized with the support of the international community. Ejup Ganic was born in 1946 in Novi Pazar, southern Serbia. At the age of 30 he earned a doctoral degree at the U.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he became recognized as researcher. He took up residence in Sarajevo in 1982 and was elected a member of the Bosnian Presidency in November 1990. (hina) rm mm 231542 MET feb 96