SARAJEVO, March 16 (Hina) - A day before Bosnian Croat self-government, proclaimed by the Croat National Council (HNS) on March 3, becomes operational, the situation in Bosnia's Croat-Muslim federation is completely peaceful, while
local bodies of authority, the police included, are performing their regular duties. According to Douglas Coffman, the spokesman for the United Nations Mission to Bosnia, there have been no problems in police structures thus far. He told reporters in Sarajevo the Mission was closely monitoring the course of events, and that if any police employee made an attempt to engage in political activity or act against the law, the Mission would react immediately. International Police Task Force commissioner Vincent Couerderoy and the federation's interior minister, Muhamed Bestic, earlier on warned all on the police force they would be fired and permanently removed from the force if they tried to respond to th
SARAJEVO, March 16 (Hina) - A day before Bosnian Croat self-
government, proclaimed by the Croat National Council (HNS) on March
3, becomes operational, the situation in Bosnia's Croat-Muslim
federation is completely peaceful, while local bodies of
authority, the police included, are performing their regular
duties.
According to Douglas Coffman, the spokesman for the United Nations
Mission to Bosnia, there have been no problems in police structures
thus far. He told reporters in Sarajevo the Mission was closely
monitoring the course of events, and that if any police employee
made an attempt to engage in political activity or act against the
law, the Mission would react immediately.
International Police Task Force commissioner Vincent Couerderoy
and the federation's interior minister, Muhamed Bestic, earlier on
warned all on the police force they would be fired and permanently
removed from the force if they tried to respond to the management of
the illegal bodies of authority the HNS intends to establish.
The federation's government yesterday held a session in Sarajevo,
concluding the situation ahead of the announced coming into force
of Bosnian Croat self-government was "not dramatic."
Federal Defence Minister Mijo Anic told reporters the majority of
the staff of the Croat Defence Council, the Bosnian Croat component
of the federal army, was under constant pressure of people from
Bosnia's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party. He said he was
gradually establishing contact with officers in the field and hoped
the situation within the federal army would stay stable.
The federation's Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Nikola
Grabovac said the pressure the HDZ was directing towards the army
and the police was doomed, and that the biggest pressure was
expected in the collection of taxes and tariffs.
He said the taxpayers and customs officers who broke the law would
be fired, and companies which paid tax levies on illegal accounts
would be treated as though they did not perform their duties to the
state.
UN Mission spokesman Coffman said there had been no pressure thus
far on members of the State Border Service, which recently started
guarding many southern border crossings to Croatia.
The situation in the federation is supervised by a special body
comprising the ministers of police, defence, justice, and finance,
who are authorised to immediately take all necessary measures to
prevent the disruption of the constitutional order.
(hina) ha sb