IFOR DOES NOT HAVE MANDATE TO STOP LAWLESSNESS IN SARAJEVO SUBURBS

SUBURBS $ SARAJEVO, March 9 (Hina) - Plunder and complete lawlessness reign in the Sarajevo suburbs of Ilidza and Grbavica, which are under Serb police control. 'The situation in Grbavica is completely out of control, and the situation in Ilidza is even worse', spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Kris Janowski told a press conference in Sarajevo today. Armed gangs were breaking into flats and taking everything that was of any value, he added. #L# Most threatened were elderly people who had decided to remain in the suburbs that are to be handed over to the federal police forces. 'They fear for their lives', Janowski said. UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko said that some 300 international policemen were deployed currently in the wider Sarajevo area. Those policemen did not have any authority but to monitor the situation and the work of the local police, Ivanko said. The Bosnian Serb authority in Pale had withdrawn the majority of their policemen from Sarajevo suburbs, but those who remained were doing nothing to prevent the plunder. The international policemen were not carrying weapons even for their personal protection so that they could not react more decisively, Ivanko added. The only thing that could be done was to intensify police patrols, since IFOR did not have the authority to perform police tasks, IFOR officials said. (hina) rm 091642 MET mar 96