BOSNIAN AMBASSADOR HANDS CREDENTIALS

( Editorial: --> 5135 ) ZAGREB, Feb 27 (Hina) - The newly-appointed Bosnian Ambassador to Croatia, Hasan Muratovic, handed his credentials to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Friday. The "consistent implementation" of the Dayton Accords and the many bilateral agreements, as well as the "respect for common and separate interests," were the "guarantee of future harmonious relations" which needed to be given a "new impetus and quality," Muratovic said. Muratovic called for the strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries. Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were connected by close historical and geopolitical ties to such an extent as to make cooperation an imperative, President Tudjman said. He reiterated that the Washington and Dayton Accords remained a basis for resolving any problems. President Tudjman agreed that economic cooperation needed strengthening; the same applied, however, to other forms of cooperation, such as scientific and cultural cooperation and all the other interests of the three nations living in Bosnia- Herzegovina. (hina) mm as 272035 MET feb 98