MOSTAR MOSTAR, Oct 15 (Hina) - The political leadership of Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Thursday evening asserted that SFOR troops had overstepped their authorities from an annex of the military segment of the Dayton agreement,
and assessed that such activities could threaten the further implementation of the Dayton accords. Top Bosnian Croat political leaders described as improper "incursion into offices of legally elected institutions of authority, destruction of the interior, confiscation of official acts without making written records, brutal physical and mental harassment, stripping female employees naked, seizure of money and personal documents, pointing fire arms at the heads of municipal officials and other inappropriate activities," read a statement issued after their session in Mostar. In view of how this SFOR operation had been carried out in western Mostar on Thursday, a stat
MOSTAR, Oct 15 (Hina) - The political leadership of Croats in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Thursday evening asserted that SFOR troops
had overstepped their authorities from an annex of the military
segment of the Dayton agreement, and assessed that such activities
could threaten the further implementation of the Dayton accords.
Top Bosnian Croat political leaders described as improper
"incursion into offices of legally elected institutions of
authority, destruction of the interior, confiscation of official
acts without making written records, brutal physical and mental
harassment, stripping female employees naked, seizure of money and
personal documents, pointing fire arms at the heads of municipal
officials and other inappropriate activities," read a statement
issued after their session in Mostar.
In view of how this SFOR operation had been carried out in western
Mostar on Thursday, a statement, issued by the SFOR claiming that
the aim of the action was to confiscate illegally possessed arms and
prevent work of secret and special units and illegal activities, is
for the Croat leadership the unacceptable manipulation of the
public by the international Stabilisation Force (SFOR).
The Croat politicians insist and expect that the SFOR will inform
the public and institutions of authorities about their operation
and give back forcibly taken property and belongings to
institutions and individuals.
According to the statement released by these politicians, there are
sufficient indications that a part of the SFOR "has been
manipulated through today's activities in Mostar, or what other way
one can explain the fact that strong SFOR forces are searching for
'secret special units' in Mostar and not in some other parts of
Bosnia-Herzegovina where undeniably there are strongholds of
international terrorism and crime."
Walking along the central street (known as Avenija) in western
Mostar on Thursday night, senior Croat officials of Bosnia-
Herzegovina and the Bosnian Croat-Moslem Federation, accompanied
by many Mostar citizens, protested peacefully against the SFOR
operation that disturbed Mostarans.
Present in the protest march were the chairman of Bosnia-
Herzegovina's collective Presidency, Ante Jelavic, the
Federation's President, Ivo Andric Luzanski, Bosnia's Ministerial
Council's Vice Chairman, Neven Tomic, Bosnian Foreign Minister
Jadranko Prlic, other ministers and many local authorities.
(hina) ms