SERB COMMUNITY WELCOMES CHANGE TO PROPERTY LAW

( Editorial: --> 9451 ) BELI MANASTIR, March 13 (Hina) - The Serb National Council (SNV) secretary's office welcomed the announced annulment of the Law on Temporary Take-Over and Management of Certain (abandoned) Property and the Law on the Renting of Flats, at a session held in Beli Manastir on Friday. The SNV also called for accurate establishment of the procedure and deadlines for the removal of consequences of those laws. Following the session, which was held behind closed doors, the SNV President Milorad Pupovac said he would ask from Premier Zlatko Matesa and the President of the National Trust Establishment Committee, Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, that the solution of the problem of two-way return be accelerated. Only 20 cases have been solved out of some 100 Serb families from the Danubian region who are seeking temporary accommodation because they have to leave the houses of Croat returnees, Pupovac said. These days, the SNV and the Joint Council of (Serb majority) Municipalities (ZVO) are to receive a list of persons included in the Amnesty Law, said the president of the Serb Democratic Independent Party (SDSS), Vojislav Stanimirovic, adding that this was a qualitative step forward. Stanimirovic also described the preparation of documents for the registration of the ZVO as positive. He added that the Croatian Defence Ministry would with a special document regulate the postponement of military service for Serbs from the Danube region for a period of two years from the completion of the UNTAES mandate. An adviser with the government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees, Serb representative Milenko Vucetic, asked for a change to the Law on Areas of Special State Concern and the adoption of a new law on reconstruction, which would make all displaced people equal, regardless of their national background, said Stanimirovic. Pupovac and Stanimirovic said they would approach Premier Matesa and Mrs Skare-Ozbolt so that the media adopts a "fair and just attitude towards the Serb community". (hina) mm rm/mrb 131946 MET mar 98