BOSNIA'S FIRST POST-WAR ELECTION BEGINS

SARAJEVO, Sept 14 (Hina) - More than 4,600 polling stations opened across Bosnia-Herzegovina at 7.00 hours on Saturday for the country's first post-war general election. About 2.9 million citizens are expected to cast their votes for one of 24 political parties which have put up 3,398 candidates for various offices. They will elect a national presidency and parliament, a parliament and ten cantonal assemblies in the Moslem-Croat Federation, and a president and parliament in the Serb Republic. The election has been organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in line with the US- sponsored Dayton peace agreement. The voting will be monitored by 940 international observers and a senior US government and Congress delegation headed by the chief architect of the peace agreement, Richard Holbrooke. The polling stations will be closed at 19.00 hours. However, the Provisional Election Commission is authorized to extend the voting if need be. More than 60,000 IFOR troops deployed early in the morning along 19 special routes to secure voters full freedom of movement across ethnic boundary lines. (hina) vm 141026 MET sep 96