PRESS CONFERENCE BY U.N. PROTECTION FORCE IN SECTOR WEST

PAKRAC, March 14 (Hina) - UN Sector West spokeswoman Susan Manuel today told a press conference in Pakrac that it would be very hard for UN peacekeepers in Sector West to continue performing their tasks with their number reduced. Halving the UN peacekeeping force in Sector West would call into question the maintainance of the present situation on the Zagreb-Lipovac highway, the supervision of heavy weapons and caring for Bosnian refugees from Banja Luka, she added. Manuel said that the expert teams of the Croatian government and local Serb authorities were to meet in the next few days to discuss repairs on the Zagreb-Tovarnik railway. She said that for quite a long time there had been a rift between Serb authorities in Okucani and those in the occupied section of Pakrac. The Serb leader in the occupied part of Pakrac, Obrad Ivanovic, no longer recognizes Dusan Vitez as leader in Sector West, Manuel said. (hina) mm vm 141925 MET mar 95