SARAJEVO SUBURBS: TOO FEW COPS, TOO MANY ROBBERS

SARAJEVO, March 13 (Hina) - A large number of looting and violence cases was registered in the newly-reintegrated Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, Peter Fitzgerald of the International Police Force said in Sarajevo on Wednesday. Bosnian Federation police have so far investigated 35 cases and arrested many felons. But it seems there are too few cops and too many robbers. Investigation showed that most of these offenses were perpetrated by gangs from Sarajevo. The international police requested the Federation's Interior Minister Avdo Hebib to take urgent steps to put an end to this menace, Fitzgerald said. "The Serbs who stayed in their homes are telling us that they have no other choice but to leave now, even though we have tried so hard in the past few days to persuade them to stay," IFOR spokesman Alexander Ivanko said. "It is unacceptable that criminals driving vehicles without licence plates should be allowed to enter just like that," UNHCR spokesman Chris Janowski summed up. According to UNHCR, looting continued in the suburb of Grbavica, which was to be returned under the Federation's wing on March 19. The NATO's Brussels headquarters yesterday released a statement saying that Admiral Leighton Smith had been given instructions to provide necessary support to the international and Federal police forces to enable them to keep law and order in the Sarajevo area. According to the estimates of international organisations, three to five thousand Serbs have remained in the Ilidza area after it passed to the control of the Federal authorities. (hina) jn as 131546 MET mar 96