SILAJDZIC: FEDERATION CAN FUNCTION ONLY AS A STATE OF CANTONS

SARAJEVO, April 10 (Hina) - Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said today that the international community should make it clear to Bosnian Serbs that they had to accept the Contact Group peace plan. Silajdzic told a panel of Muslim intellectuals in Sarajevo that the Bosnian government was ready to give Belgrade the possibility of returning to the international community provided that the Belgrade regime recognized the states established on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, that international forces were deployed along the Drina river to monitor the Bosnia-Serbia border, and that the UN Security Council recognized the Contact group peace plan as an international project. According to Silajdzic, there had been attempts to establish two separate national territories in the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina, which was contrary to the spirit of the Washington Agreement. The Federation could function only as one state made up of cantons, said Silajdzic, warning that the existence of the Federation could be discussed only after refugees returned to their homes. (hina) mm rm vm 101947 MET apr 95