27 BODIES EXCAVATED AT KRIZANCEVO MASS GRAVE

ZAGREB, Jan 7 (Hina) - Commander of the British UNPROFOR battalion in Vitez, Col. Peter Williams, was to talk this morning with the "local B-H army commander" about the continuation of the excavation of a mass grave in Krizancevo, a representative of the battalion told Hina on Friday morning. Members of the British battalion dug out 27 bodies from a mass grave near the village of Krizancevo, a few miles from Vitez, on Thursday. "They all seem to be of draft age and they are dressed in some kind of military uniform. Their wounds might have been inflicted in action," Col Williams told a Reuters reporter at the mass grave site. The bodies were individually wrapped in plastic, bearing number tags. According to Reuters, Col. Williams could not confirm or deny that these people were victims of a war crime. The mass grave was excavated 16 days after Herzeg-Bosnian authorities gave out on Dec 22 that a crime had been committed in the vicinity of the village. Moslem forces had so far denied UNPROFOR access to the grave. Col. Williams said on Thursday that UN would launch a thorough investigation should evidence of a war crime come to light. 071352 MET jan 94