REBEL SERBS VIOLATE CEASE FIRE IN SECTOR SOUTH

ZADAR, March 23 (Hina) - The Croatian Army would not accept false accusations and share the blame for violations of the ceasefire Agreement, the assistant Commander of the Croatian Army District in Split, 1st Lieutenant Mario Tomasovic, said today. He was discussing the situation in the occupied area of Southern Croatia - Sector South, at press conference in Zadar. Serb troops in Sector South were regularly violating the cease fire Agreement, Tomasovic said and he named all the places where Serbs were digging trenches (openly using machines), performing engineering work and preparing fire positions. On March 18 Serbs transported the first mortar battery to the area around Skabrnja village, and on March 21 the second was transported, Tomasovic said. From their stronghold in Zemunik Gornji (Zadar hinterland) Serbs had fired an M-80 missile and opened artillery fire in direction of Suhovar on March 18, Tomasovic said and stressed that all this had happened in the separation zone defined by the ceasefire Agreement as 'a demilitarized, UNPROFOR protected area'. The Croatian Army was not responsible for Croatian Defence Council's opening fire at Serb paramilitary troops and at UNPROFOR officers on March 19 near Budim, a Croatian-Bosnian border, where one officer was lightly wounded. The Croatian Army could not be responsible for fire opened from Bosnia-Herzegovina territory, Tomasovic said. The group that had been fired at included UNPROFOR General for Sector South, Rastislav Kotil, who on that day, together with a group of UNPROFOR officers, had been visiting the area at the invitation of Serb separatists. Tomasovic said the Croatian Army would continue cooperating with UNPROFOR while it was carrying out its duties under the ceasefire Agreement and UN Security Council's resolutions. 232029 MET mar 95