CROATIA PROTESTS STATEMENT BY SPOKESMAN ON SFOR MANDATE

( Editorial: --> 7420 ) ZAGREB, March 5 (Hina) - Croatia's Ambassador to Bosnia- Herzegovina, Darinko Bago, on Thursday handed an official protest to international High Representative Carlos Westendorp over a statement by an SFOR spokesman at a press conference in Sarajevo on March 3, the Croatian Foreign Ministry said. The spokesman had told journalists that SFOR troops stationed in Bosnia would not intervene in Kosovo even if violence in that Yugoslav province continued, because SFOR's mandate was limited to Bosnia and Croatia only. Since the signing of the Dayton Accords the mandate of international military forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina has never been extended to include the Republic of Croatia, which signed an agreement with representatives of international forces that allowed them to travel through Croatian territory, a Ministry statement said. In talks with Ambassador Bago, Westendorp said he was not familiar with the statement and would seek an explanation from SFOR commander General Eric Shinseki on why spokesman Louis Gerneau included Croatia in SFOR's mandate. (Hina) jn mb /mr 051918 MET mar 98