CROATIAN COURT CONVICTS MOSLEM GROUP OF ASSASSINATION PLOT

RIJEKA, June 21 (Hina) - The Croatian county court in the northern coastal city of Rijeka on Friday convicted five Moslems of plotting to assassinate a breakaway Bosnian Moslem leader. The court sentenced four Bosnian citizens and one Croatian to prison terms ranging from four months to two years for consipiring to kill Fikret Abdic, a business tycoon from the Bihac area of northwestern Bosnia, who had fought alongside rebel Serbs against the Moslem-led Sarajevo government. The five men were convicted under article 135 of the Croatian criminal code for committing an act of international terrorism. A sixth member of the group, a Moslem woman from Bihac, had been acquitted earlier. The verdict said that the defendants had been preparing the assassination attempt in Bihac, Crikvenica, about 30 km south of Rijeka, and Rijeka from the second half of February to 3 April 1996 for a reward of 100,000 German marks and business premises. The defence left the courtroom in protest at the verdict which they said was politically motivated. They announced an appeal. (hina) vm mm 211949 MET jun 96