KLEIN EXPECTS OCCUPIED AREAS TO BE REINTEGRATED BY MID 1997

ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - The mandate of UN forces in the Serb- occupied areas of eastern Croatia would have to be extended for another year and the areas would be fully reintegrated into Croatia by mid-1997, the UN Transitional Administrator in the area, US General Jacques Klein, said in Zagreb on Monday. The demilitarization of the Croatian Danubian areas of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem would begin on June 1 and would most probably last until July 1 this year, Klein said in a lecture on prospects of the UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) at the Institute for International Relations. If the reintegration process began on July 1, it would take about one year to restore government institutions in the areas, he added. Klein said that his aim was to complete the reintegration process by July 1997. He recalled that the UN Security Council had given a mandate to UNTAES to carry out its mission from January 15 this year to the next January 15 and that the mandate could be extended for one more year. As the biggest problems Klein cited mine clearance, the building of confidence among people and the raising of funds for rebuilding houses and for economic reconstruction of the areas. There were still about 350,000 mines the removal of which must precede the return of refugees to the areas, he said. Klein stressed that it was very important that both Croatian and Serb communities discipline the so-called immoral minority who were obstructing the progress of the UN mission for personal gain. For the restoration of confidence it would be good if Croatian President Franjo Tudjman declared amnesty for rebel Serbs now living in the Danubian area. That would solve the problem of about 5,000 young Serbs who did not know what whould happen to them and who represented a potential danger because demilitarization applied only to heavy weapons and not to sidearms, Klein said. Klein said that the return of Croatian refugees to Eastern Slavonia would be much easier if there was a possibility for Serbs now living in Eastern Slavonia to return to their homes elsewhere in Croatia. (hina) vm jn 061606 MET may 96