IFOR DISCOVERS LARGE QUANTITY OF BOSNIAN SERB AMMUNITION

SARAJEVO, August 6 (Hina) - Italian soldiers of the NATO-led Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday discovered a large quantity of ammunition which the Bosnian Serb Army had not reported to the IFOR command around Sokoc na Romaniji, 50 km to the north-east of Sarajevo, IFOR spokesman in Sarajevo Bratt Boudreau said on Tuesday. A patrol of the Italian "Garibaldi" brigade discovered a large quantity of hidden shells, mines and small-arms bullets in a deserted house and building 6 km from Sokoc. IFOR representatives returning to Sarajevo with the discovered ammunition were stopped on the streets of Sokoc by a mass of 200- 300 people. Two officers of the Bosnian Serb Army claimed the ammunition had been reported. The Italian soldiers had no directions as to what to do, so they returned the ammunition, while representatives of the Bosnian Serb Army asked from IFOR Ground Forces Commander Michael Walker for a permit for twenty additional locations for arms and ammunition deployment, among which were the two buildings searched earlier. Boudreau said the arms and ammunition in question amounted to at least 1,200 square metres of military material, adding that the IFOR Command did not have the impression that the Serbs tried to hide those arms, but he pointed out that the permit would not be granted before a thorough investigation. After signing the Dayton Accord, all three armies in Bosnia- Herzegovina had to group arms and ammunition in areas determined and approved by IFOR. The exact number of these locations was secret, Boudreau said, but added that they were between several hundreds and a thousand. (hina) ha mm 061503 MET aug 96