CROATIAN REFUGEES ATTEND MASS IN SERB-OCCUPIED VILLAGE

OSIJEK, June 13 (Hina) - Fifty-two Croatian refugees from Antunovac in Serb-occupied Eastern Slavonia visited their village on Thursday for the first time after five years to attend mass marking the holiday of the villages's patron saint Anthony of Padua. The service, organized by the Croatian government office for reintegration of the occupied areas of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem and the UN transitional administration for the areas (UNTAES), was held in the centre of the village where a makeshift altar had been set up because the Church of St Anthony of Padua had been razed to the ground. The refugees were guarded by UNTAES troops and local Serb police. As soon as the mass was over they returned to Osijek where they held a press conference. Refugees said that Antunovac had been almost completely destroyed but that they had not been allowed to make a tour of the village and see their homes. The press conference was attended by Osijek County prefect Branimir Glavas who said that he had demanded that UNTAES organize a visit to Aljmas on August 15, on Assumption Day, since this Catholic holiday had been celebrated by that village for centuries. (hina) vm jn 132022 MET jun 96