CROATIAN SERBS BLOCK GOVERNMENT OFFICE IN UN-ADMINISTERED AREA

BELI MANASTIR, Oct 11 (Hina) - About 200 Serbs blocked the office issuing Croatian documents in Beli Manastir in the UN administered area of eastern Croatia on Thursday, demanding that the office be relocated from the town's centre, the Croatian government office for the area said in a statement on Friday. Demonstrators cut off telephone lines to the office, prevented the personnel from leaving the building and assaulted a person of Serb nationality who had come to apply for Croatian documents. The people trapped in the office, including 11 employees and 15 citizens, were protected by members of the UN Belgian Battalion and the joint Croatian-Serb police force. Following two hours of negotiations which began at 17.00 hours, the protesters were addressed by local Serb authorities, after which they began to disperse. A crowd of about 50 most persistent demonstrators was broken up by the joint police. The office employees, for whom the UN administration provides daily transport from Osijek to Beli Manastir and back, were showered with eggs and various objects on their way to a bus. They returned to Osijek at 21.30 hours. Waving Serbian flags and shouting abuse, protesters damanded that the Belgian Battalion end its show of force in the Baranja region. The UN troops and joint police securing the office building were also targeted with eggs and bottles. The government statement said that the protest had been organized by local Serb leaders. Describing the behaviour of the joint police, it said that some officers did their job properly while some just stood and watched. The local Serb authorities and UN civil affairs coordinator Gerard Fisher were meeting on Friday to discuss the incident. (hina) vm jn 111802 MET oct 96