BOSNIAN CROAT POLICE ON AUTHORITY TRANSFER IN HADZICI

KISELJAK, March 6 (Hina) - The Bosnian Croat police in Kiseljak, 30 km west of Sarajevo, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that its forces had entered the Sarajevo suburb of Hadzici overnight to protect abandoned property and stressing that with this move they did not want to influence any solutions. "In the past fifteen days we have informed you several times about the unacceptable behaviour of our federal partner during the transfer of authority in Sarajevo districts which had hitherto been under Serb control, because the 'federal police force' is not made up of legitimate police officers from the ranks of the Croat people," the statement, carried by the Bosnian Croat news agency HABENA, said. "We have protested the above-mentioned circumstances to authorized international institutions and their representatives in charge of the implementation of the Dayton agreement," it added. "Since all the measures that were undertaken failed to yield fruit, with permission of the Deputy Interior Minister of the Bosnian Federation we entered Hadzici on the night of 5 March 1996 and undertook intensive steps to protect abandoned property and residential and other buildings. "With this move we did not want to influence any solution but we wanted to show the international community and its institutions that the provisions of the Dayton agreement were being implemented in the way suitable only to the interests of one nation and that in our opinion certain international institutions have put themselves in the service of such a police force," the statement said. "In the early morning hours of 6 March 1996, heavily armed IFOR troops, together with international police force chief Peter Fitzgerald and his aides, appeared in Hadzici, giving an ultimatum to the (Croat) police to leave the police station and the town hall or otherwise they would apply force," it said. In order to avoid any complications or a conflict, the Croat police left the two buildings, the statement concluded. (hina) vm mm 061825 MET mar 96