BOBAN'S ADDRESS TO HERZEG-BOSNIAN PARLIAMENT

LIVNO, Feb 8 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina can only exist as a confederal community of three constituent nations enjoying equal rights, said President of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia Mare Boban in his inaugural speech before the House of Representatives of the Herzeg-Bosnian Parliament, stressing that "Bosnia-Herzegovina should be demilitarised." "The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia is the guarantee that the Croatian people will be able to exercise their rights in the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina," said Boban, recalling that Herzeg- Bosnia had been set up as a response to the Serbian aggression. Referring to "these sundry congresses of Bosnian Croats," Boban said they served the ends of those who were scheming to deny the Croats their rights. The European Community and the United Nations were pursuing a double-standard policy, which was not a way to solve the crisis in the region, said Boban. The Moslem side had claimed the Croat- populated areas in central Bosnia precisely at a moment when a final solution to the crisis had seemed close at hand, Boban said. Recalling the past two years of war, Boban reminded the House that at the beginning of the Serbian aggression, only the Croats had offered any resistance to speak of. The Croats had managed to defend 35 percent of the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and save 40 percent of the Moslem people. Herzeg-Bosnia had given shelter to 180,000 Moslem refugees, Boban noted, pointing out that the Croatian side had offered the Moslems "assistance in deblocking Sarajevo," which the Moslem side refused. "It is quite clear now what Alija Izetbegovic and the whole Moslem nepotistic oligarchy are up to: precipitating military intervention," Boban said. "The Moslem leadership has set about creating an Islamic state," asserted Boban, adding that the war was waged in order to expel all Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Boban further produced data that 377 out of 1029 Croatian majority towns and villages, 377 had so far been 'ethnically cleansed' and burned down; 7,900 Croats had been killed and 25,000 wounded, while 480 civilians had been slaughtered by Serbian and Moslem troops. He said 13,196 Croatian civilians and 1,853 Croatian Defence Council (HVO) soldiers were now in Moslem detention, while 159,221 Bosnian Croats had been expelled from their homes. 081526 MET feb 94