BOSNIAN SERB AUTHORITIES ORGANIZE INCIDENTS NEAR PRIJEDOR

SARAJEVO, May 27 (Hina) - Representatives of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR) and the international police on Monday accused Bosnian Serb authorities in Prijedor, northwestern Bosnia, of consciously and deliberately preventing a group of displaced Bosniacs from visiting Prijedor during the weekend. IFOR spokesman in Sarajevo, Simon Haselock, said that the Serb authorities probably organized demonstrations of about 250 people who yesterday prevented a bus with 40-60 people, mainly women who wanted to visit their homes in Prijedor, from entering the town. The Serbs stoned the bus, causing light injuries to several women, and also attacked the Czech soldiers who were accompanying the Bosniacs. #L# In order to avoid conflicts with Serb civilians, IFOR representatives withdrew one of their observation posts by the Ostra Luka village, near Prijedor. "This is a classic example of avoiding cooperation, and we believe that the Serb police encouraged protesters to attack the Bosniacs", said Haselock. Large groups of displaced persons had already made attempts to visit Prijedor and Kozarac, but local Serb authorities always prevented it. Several cases of crossing borderlines between the entities were recorded in the past two days, but incidents occurred only around Prijedor. UNHCR spokesman in Sarajevo, Randolph Ryan, said that a Bosniacs visit to Stolac was successful and that there had been no problems apart from the fact that refugees could not enter their homes. He added that the return of a large number of Bosniacs from Turkey was proceeding without the cooperation between the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and UNHCR. Bosniacs who previously lived in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina were now settling in Sarajevo. (hina) ha 271430 MET may 96