UNTAES POLICE FORCES START WITH WORK IN E. SLAVONIA

NUSTAR/BRSADIN, July 1 (Hina) - The start of the work of the UNTAES police forces was on Monday marked at a UNTAES checkpoint between Brsadin and Nustar with a ceremony. Present at the ceremony were UN Administrator for the occupied area, Jacques Klein, head of the Croatian government Office for the establishment of Croatian authority in the occupied area, Ivica Vrkic, head of the Osijek police, Dubravko Jezercic, and head of the Vukovar police, Ivan Bucak. #L# Thanking the political leadership on both sides for this historical event, General Klein said that with this act, investments and capital would begin to flow into this area if law and order were stable. The joint police had the task of maintaining security and order and protecting the property of all people who are to live here, Vrkic said, adding that "Croatian deputy commanders are expected to enter the area and, together with General Klein as commander, create preconditions for co-existence". Commander of the Croatian side of the Transitional police force said that joint police teams, comprising of a Croatian, a Serb and member of the UNTAES as an observer only, would patrol the occupied Danubian area from Monday. With time, the composition of the joint police would change and conform to the ethnic constitution of the population as it had been before the Serb occupation, Milicevic said. Eleven police stations have been set up in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem, but their number will increase once the non-Serb displaced population return to Lipovac, Ceric, Marinci, Laslovo, Ernestinovo, Senjski Antunovac and Bilje. Milicevic stressed that the joint police force would be a guarantee for security to displaced persons who would soon be returning to their homes after the area was cleared of mines. (hina) lm 011940 MET jul 96