CONGRESS OF BOSNIAN CROATS IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Feb 7 (Hina) - A meeting of Bosnian Croats which began in Sarajevo Sunday was welcomed by senior Moslem-led Bosnian Government officials. Describing this "Congress of the Croats of Bosnia-Herzegovina" as "historical," they called on the participants to help preserve the state which is home to Croats, Moslems and Serbs alike, denying allegations that they (the Moslem government) were aiming to establish an Islamic state under the cloak of a civil state. They pledged their support to the Congress. On behalf of Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, the meeting was addressed by Presidency member Ejup Ganic. The meeting was also welcomed by representatives of the Croatian communities in Chicago and Toronto. Telegrams of support by Ivan Supek, President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Bernard Luketich, President of the Croatian Fraternal Union in the United States, were also read. The inaugural address was held by the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party in Bosnia-Herzegovina and member of the Bosnian Presidency, Ivo Komsic. Invoking the 1990 election and the 1992 referendum, Komsic expounded a political platform he believed could lead to a breakthrough in peace negotiations. The platform is based on the return of refugees to their homes, territorial integrity, decentralisation, sovereignty of the constituent nations through government bodies and rejection of national states within Bosnia- Herzegovina. He propounded that the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina should be founded on three or four levels of government. Komsic's proposal includes the lifting of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro, depending on the process of implementing the peace plan. 071331 MET feb 94