SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED ABOUT SLOW PACE OF MASS GRAVES INVESTIG

INVESTIG $ ATIONS WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Hina) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned acts of obstructing investigations into war crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially in the areas of Srebrenica, Zepa, Banja Luka, Sanski Most, Glamoc and Ozren. "The Security Council condemns all attempts to obstruct the investigations or to destroy, alter, conceal or damage any related evidence," it said in a presidential statement on Thursday. It called on all parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina to make greater efforts to seek the whereabouts of missing persons. The Security Council also expressed concern about the fact that Bosnian Serb authorities obstructed international community's efforts to exhume victims from mass graves. It notes with concern that the fate of only a few hundred missing people has been established so far. Bosnia's Ambassador to the U.N. Muhamed Sacirbey sent a letter to the Security Council saying that the Council should impose sanctions against those who protect war criminals and ensure their arrest rather than responding by presidential statements to human rights' abuses. (hina) mš 102047 MET oct 96