HVO AND BOSNIAN ARMY HOLD TALKS ON NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS

SARAJEVO, July 4 (Hina) - A delegation of the Croatian Defence Council's (HVO) headquarters, led by General Milivoj Petkovic, arrived in Sarajevo on Monday to conduct two-day negotiations with representatives of the Bosnian army's headquarters. General Petkovic told Croatian News Agency (Hina) today that the negotiations concentrated on normalization of relations between the Bosnian army and the HVO. At today's talks the two sides agreed in principle that the former confrontation lines between the Bosnian army and the HVO should be dissolved, and the formations of the two military forces should ensure stability in the depth of territory. The two delegations also agreed that mixed checkpoints should be established at the former disengagement lines because of effective control, and at the same time the number of troops on the previous battlefields should decrease considerably. Both delegations think that the reinforced control is still necessary in the former crisis areas, since there are some groups who threaten the security of the areas by their irresponsible and arbitrary behaviour. According to General Petkovic, the gradual disengagement of forces should commence from 15 July first in the Zepce area (some 120 km N. of Sarajevo) further to the south of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A mixed military commission is due to consider in detail the operation of disengagement at a special session in Gornji Vakuf in two days. A today's session in Sarajevo the two delegations discussed the problem of Croats' mobilization to the Bosnian army by force in the area of Tuzla (northeastern Bosnia). The HVO representatives proposed that the Croats in the Tuzla area should be conscripted to the HVO 108th and 115 brigades deployed in the crisis area since the outbreak of the war in Bosnia. 041659 MET jul 94