UNTAES CLOSES ILOK OFFICES IN RESPONSE TO XMAS EVE INCIDENT

OSIJEK, Dec 28 (Hina) - The UN Transitional Administrator in eastern Slavonia, Gen. Jacques Klein, has temporarily closed down UNTAES offices in Ilok, UNTAES officials said on Saturday. In response to an incident on Christmas Eve, when a group of Serbs damaged the Catholic Church of St. John Capistran and attacked the congregation, both the civilian affairs office and the office for Croatian citizenship papers were closed down and would remain closed until the situation returned to normal, deputy spokesman for UNTAES, Yuriy Chizhik, told HINA. This security measure was undertaken to help restore law and order in the Ilok area, he explained. Noting that the Christmas Eve incident had been well organised, Chizhik said UNTAES insisted that the instigators be arrested, tried and punished. Furthermore, no commercial traffic would be allowed at two Croatia-Yugoslavia border crossings in the Ilok area as of Saturday. Passenger vehicles would be searched for weapons and the driver's ID and other documents carefully checked, Chizhik said. In case of any irregularities, vehicles may be confiscated, he announced. (hina) as 281304 MET dec 96