CROATIAN TROOPS TO PULL OUT FROM SEPARATION ZONES BY 17:00 HRS

ZAGREB, May 16 (Hina) - The agreement on the status of the UN peacekeeping force in Croatia, signed Monday by Croatian foreign minister Mate Granic and UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi, was a big step forward, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in Zagreb today. We are pleased that these protracted negotiations ended successfully, Eckhard said, welcoming the withdrawal of Croatian forces from separation zones, expected to be completed by 17:00 hours today. The situation in former UN sectors was stable but so far neither side had made significant moves to withdraw from the separation zones, spokesman Christopher Gunness said. In former Sector North, the situation was calm although very tense, with several hundred soldiers from both sides still present in the sector, he specified. The Croatian army commander in former Sector South told the UN yesterday that his troops would pull out within 24 hours, Gunness said. Croatian troop movements were registered in former Sector East, but there were no signs of an impending pull-out. The Croatian army and rebel Serb forces yesterday exchanged fire in the Vinkovci area of eastern Croatia. The incident was initiated by Serb paramilitary forces. Three masked men destroyed UN radio equipment and stole three trucks in the eastern town of Ilok, Gunness said. The situation in western Slavonia was calm. Twenty-eight Serbs left for Bosnia yesterday. Croatian authorities informed UN Civil Affairs chief, Jacques Moussali, that 917 men had been released from custody, while 558 were still being interrogated. In the next few days, it was expected that fewer than a hundred men would remain in custody for interrogation, Eckhard said. (hina) vm as 161532 MET may 95