US CALLS FOR OBSERVANCE OF CEASE-FIRE AND PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Hina) - The United States calls on all sides in Croatia to show maximum restraint, refrain from fighting, observe the cease-fire and ensure the safety of civilians, State Department spokesman, Philip Burns, said on Friday. According to Burns, the US is closely cooperating with the UN to bring the sides to the negotiating table in view of a settlement. "We are working to contain the conflict, to secure the US and UN personnel and to promote the rights of civilians and prisoners- of-war," Burns said. "We have never supported initiatives for a renewal of hostilities, either in Croatia or in Bosnia. We told both governments that it was in their interest that fighting shoudl cease. The Bosnians are obviously the victims and it is as obvious that Croatia has every interest - which we support - to restore its sovereignty over the whole of its territory, but we believe that UN-brokered negotiations are still the best way to do it, no matter how frustrating it may seem," he elaborated. "The responsibility for the war lays with those who started it - the Bosnian and the Croatian Serbs," he said. (hina) as 061109 MET may 95