GARROD LEAVES BRIDGE OPENING CEREMONY IN PROTEST AT CROATIAN FLAG

MOSTAR, Oct 4 (Hina) - European Union special envoy Martin Garrod walked out of the ceremony of opening a rebuilt bridge in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar on Friday after local Croat authorities refused to remove a Croatian flag from the bridge. Gillez Pequex, the EU official in charge of supervising the construction of the bridge, cut the ribbon after Garrod had left the site. Later on, Garrod told a news conference that the opening ceremony was postponed because the Croatian national flag had been displayed on the bridge. He added that the bridge was not officially open, but that it could be used. Speaking on behalf of the EU Presidency, Italian ambassador to Sarajevo Vittorio Pennarola said that the hoisting of the Croatian national flag on the bridge was a reckless move by individuals which was against Croat interests. Responding to a journalist's question why he had not protested against a Bosnian fleur-de-lis flag displayed at the recent opening of a railway station in Moslem-controlled east Mostar, Garrod said that he had not seen the flag. The president of the Mostar branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Mile Puljic, said that the Croats had the right to fly the flag at the bridge because it was located in one of the three Croat-majority districts envisaged by the Dayton peace agreement. Earlier in the day, an old people's home had been opened in east Mostar. The opening ceremony was attended by Garrod, Mostar mayor Ivan Prskalo and ambassadors and embassy officials of seven EU countries based in Sarajevo. (hina) vm jn 041901 MET oct 96