HERZEG-BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER ON SARAJEVO CONGRESS

ZAGREB, Feb 7 (Hina) - "The meeting of Bosnian Croats, called 'Congress' by its organizers, cannot possibly represent all Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, particularly those in the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia," said deputy chairman of the Herzeg-Bosnian Parliament's House of Representatives Ivan Bender in a telephone interview with Croatian television late Sunday night. He said that the Sarajevo meeting was legal and legitimate, if seen from a regionalist point of view. He pointed out that he would have attended it had he been invited. Asked to comment on the presence of members of Croatian opposition parties and the Church at the meeting, Bender replied that Church officials should live with the people. He added that both Church and opposition representatives had been invited to attend tomorrow's session of the Herzeg-Bosnian House of Representatives in Livno. Opposition members of the Croatian Parliament would then have the opportunity to prove their allegations about mistakes in Herzeg-Bosnian policy. Bender described as ill-intentioned and biased allegations that Herzeg-Bosnia did not represent all Croats in Bosnia- Herzegovina, stressing that deputies from all over Bosnia- Herzegovina participated in the work of Herzeg-Bosnian authorities. Asked to comment on support to the Sarajevo meeting by Bosnian Presidency member Ejup Ganic, Bender said: "I am convinced that the organizers of the meeting swallowed Alija Izetbegovic's bait and are trying to build a civil state. There is no such civil state as it has been broken up by others, not by Croats. We are trying to preserve Bosnia-Herzegovina as a state made up of three parts, in which the Croats, Serbs and Moslems would enjoy equal rights." Speaking of the future of Croatian-Moslem relations, Bender said: "We have been trying and will try to achieve cooperation, with the Moslems in the first place. However, combat operations and killing of Croats in Herzegovina and central Bosnia must be brought to a stop." 071406 MET feb 94