IFOR ISSUES STATEMENT ON 29 NOV INCIDENT IN MOSTAR

MOSTAR, 1 Dec (Hina) - The Spanish brigade of the international Implementation Force (IFOR) in Mostar on Sunday issued a statement on an incident which happened on the night of 29 November in Croat- controlled western part of the city, between the Spanish IFOR brigade, International Police Task Force and a group of civilians. During one of routine inspections, the Spanish IFOR brigade and IPTF members searched a car at an IFOR check-point, found a gun in the vehicle and seized it. Later on, the owner turned up to claim his gun back, but Spanish IFOR troops refused to do it. After that, a dozen civilians tried to break into the IPTF station, and when their attempt failed, they overturned an IPTF- marked vehicle. IPTF members asked IFOR for support because of the passivity of local police forces and for fear of possible consequences. The incident calmed down soon, the statement said. The person, whose gun was seized, was not an invalid. An invalid did appear at the site of the incident afterwards, the IFOR statement said, refuting reports which said that the weapon had been seized from an invalid. Similiar inspections are being carried out in line with Article 4 of the Annex to the Dayton peace agreement, which says that only police forces recognized by IPTF can carry weapons with a short barrel within the demilitarized Mostar zone, the statement said. (hina) rm 011541 MET dec 96