VISIT TO OCCUPIED VILLAGE CANCELLED FOR SECURITY REASONS

OSIJEK, April 17 (Hina) - Twenty-two refugee women went to visit their homes in the Serb-occupied village of Tenja in the Eastern Slavonia region of Croatia on Wednesday but were turned back at a UN check point. Their visit had been organized by the UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES). Ivica Vrkic, head of the government office for restoration of Croatian authority in the occupied area, told reporters that he had been informed by UNTAES that the visit was cancelled for security reasons because Serbs had staged a protest rally. Vrkic said that the protest was an attempt to upset the peaceful reintegration process that had already started. (hina) vm jn 171945 MET apr 96