HARRASING OF CROATS IN TRAVNIK CONTINUES

TRAVNIK, August 13 (Hina) - The harassing of the remaining Croats in Travnik, central Bosnia, continued, the Nova Bila-based Travnik Municipal Authorities on Tuesday wrote in a letter to Bosnian Federation President Kresimir Zubak and international factors in Bosnia. According to the Vitez-based Travnik Police Department, on 9 August unknown perpetrators set fire to the house of a Croat returnee, later accused by Travnik Bosniak police of starting the fire himself. Stipo Lovrinovic from the Croatian village of Djelilovac was detained and harassed at the Turbet police station because he had cut three square miles of wood for fire in his own forest. Along the Uskoplje-Novi Travnik road there were constant thefts. Bosniak-Muslim civilians stole large quantities of beer from a truck of the Croatian "Dalmatinka" company from Sinj. The Vitez-based Travnik PD considers these incidents deliberate, perpetrated in order to discourage Croats from Travnik to return to their town and take part in the Bosnian September elections. Out of 27,000 Croats who lived in Travnik before the war, only 2,000 remained. (hina) ha 131717 MET aug 96