GENERAL COT, CROATIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY ON INCIDENT IN GOSPIC AREA

ZAGREB, Feb 3 (Hina) - UN Force Commander Gen. Jean Cot on Thursday lodged a protest with the "Zagreb authorities" over an incident involving Croatian army soldiers, members of the Canadian UNPROFOR battalion and UN military observers, said Gen. Cot's spokesman. The Croatian army on Tuesday disarmed four members of the Canadian battalion and two UN military observers in the vicinity of Medak (150 km S. of Karlovac) and took them to the police station. Gen. Cot described the incident, the second in a month, as "shameful." The Croatian Defence Ministry political department described Gen. Cot's protest as "groundless." On both occasions (on Jan 5 and Feb 1), UNPROFOR members were apprehended outside the UNPA, a defence ministry official told Hina. Head of the Croatian army Gospic sector Veselko Gabricevic on Feb 1 forwarded a letter to UNPROFOR Commander in Sector South Col. George Oehring, informing him that members of the Canadian battalion and UN military observers stationed in Gracac had been apprehended patrolling behind Croatian army positions, outside the area under UN protection. The letter warned Col. Oehring of possible "undesirable consequences" of such actions, said the source. 031808 MET feb 94