MUNICIPAL SERVICE WORKERS UNLOAD RUBBISH AT UNPROFOR CHECKPOINT

OSIJEK, July 5 (Hina) - The Osijek municipal service company unloaded four truckfuls of rubbish in front of a UNPROFOR checkpoint at Nemetin at 13:30 hours Tuesday. The municipal service workers set out this morning for the local rubbish dump in Sarvas (UNPA East), but were stopped by members of the Russian UNPROFOR battalion at the Nemetin checkpoint, which was blocked by a truck and an armoured personnel carrier. According to the Osijek police, UNPROFOR returned five refuse trucks by 11:00 hours, under the pretext that the rubbish would be harmful to the health of UNPROFOR members as well as local Serbs. Coordinator for contacts with UNPROFOR in Sector East and Prefect of Osijek County Branimir Glavas appeared on the scene a little later and asked the Russian guard to call the commander of the Russian UNPROFOR battalion to come and talk to him. After talking to the Russian commander on the telephone, the Russian guard said the commander could come only at 18:00 hours. Undaunted, Glavas gave the Russian commander a choice either to come before 13:30 hours, or the workers would unload the rubbish in front of the checkpoint. Glavas told the Russian soldiers to convey to their superiors the message that they "were on Croatian soil, on the territory of the Croatian state and therefore had no business to fraternise with the aggressor and behave like an occupying force." Glavas said UNPROFOR's interdiction of using the rubbish dump was nothing else but "retaliation for the protests staged by refugees, who asked nothing more but to return to their homes." As the Russian commander failed to appear, the workers duly unloaded four truckfuls of rubbish at the gate. 051738 MET jul 94