AGREEMENTS ON MOSTAR UNIFIED POLICE AND IPTF SIGNED ON TUESDAY

MOSTAR, Oct 15 (Hina) - An agreement on Herzegovina-Neretva Canton authorities taking over the unified police force in Mostar was signed in the town on Tuesday afternoon by the E.U. special envoy Sir Martin Garrod, County interior minister and deputy minister Valentin Coric and Sefkija Dziho. They also signed an agreement on the transfer of responsibilities from the Western European Union police (WEU) to the International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Mostar. #L# At the ceremony of the signing a flag of the WEU police was replaced by a U.N. flag on a mast near the WEU headquarters in the town. Canton Interior Minister Coric said the unified 150-strong police force consisted of 75 Croat and 75 Moslem policemen, whereas the international police had 50 men. He added that by Tuesday's signing of agreements "we show our readiness for peace and order." The E.U. envoy Sir Garrod said "today is the most important day to Mostar," and stressed that "a key task of the unified police force is to guarantee security to all Mostar citizens." He said the joint police force had done a good job on the June 30 local election and proved that unified police was possible in the town. In the last two years, 500 WEU policemen have been employed in Mostar, and two of them died there, according to him. The deputy of the WEU secretary-general, Horst Holtoff, said the WEU police in Mostar had acted as a catalyst in restoring confidence. The WEU police chief, Pieter Lambrechtse, said the mission of the WEU police in Mostar had been often dangerous. He informed that more than 15 million German marks had been invested in the establishment of the unified police force in Mostar. The International Police Task Force chief, Peter Fitzgerald said he was confident of cooperation between the Mostar unified police and the IPTF. (hina) mš 151939 MET oct 96