TRAVNIK CROATS ASK TO BE PROTECTED FROM BOSNIAK ATTACKS

( Editorial: --> 1786 ) MOSTAR, March 23 (Hina) - The head of the Travnik Municipal Council Tomislav Rajic requested the Stabilisation Force (SFOR), international police and the ombudsman of the Federation of Bosnia- Herzegovina to protect Croats in the central Bosnian town. The request was sent following Saturday's incident in which five Croat returnees were beaten up in the village of Bukovica near Travnik. Another three Croat homes were burned down in Bukovica in the last three days, Rajic said. Several Croat returnees were killed last year in Bosniak (Muslim) controlled Travnik and police never discovered the perpetrators, Rajic said. The last attack on Croat returnees from Bukovica occurred on Saturday, March 21 while they were trying to visit their burned- down homes. According to their testimonies, they were attacked by their Bosniak neighbours. The Croats claim that the local Muslim police watched everything and did nothing to prevent the incident. (hina) mm rm /mb 232000 MET mar 98