UN CHIEF RECOMMENDS SIX MONTH EXTENSION OF MANDATE IN E. CROATIA

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Hina) - UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros- Ghali on Tuesday recommended to the UN Security Council to extend the UN mandate in the Serb-held Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem areas of eastern Croatia until July 15 so that UN troops could complete their main tasks. However, UN observers should remain in the region until the end of the next year, Boutros-Ghali said in a report. As for elections, he assessed that all residents of the region who so wished could get Croatian documents in March at the earliest, after which it would take at least four weeks to verify voter lists and make other preparations for elections. Boutros-Ghali criticized the Croatian government for failing to fully meet its commitments towards the UN Transitional Administration in the region (UNTAES). He said that increasingly aggressive and hostile statements against UNTAES had been registered in Croatia in October, including a statement by the defence minister who had threatened a military action unless the region was reintegrated into Croatia by April next year. (hina) vm mm 301048 MET oct 96