KOSOVO CRISIS HAS NOT CHANGED SFOR MANDATE

( Editorial: --> 0440 ) SARAJEVO, June 11 (Hina) - The mandate of the Stabilisation Forces (SFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina is directed before all else to peace- keeping in that country regardless of the escalating crisis in Kosovo, said SFOR spokeswoman Major Sheena Thomson in Sarajevo on Wednesday. She added that the NATO units deployed in BH are continuing to implement the usual tasks and that the situation in Kosovo is being considered at NATO's high political level. Commenting on claims by some media that SFOR will be engaged to deliver humanitarian aid to refugees in Albania, Thomson said today that NATO units in BH have not received such a command or request. UNHCR spokeswoman in Sarajevo, Ariane Quentier, confirmed today that international humanitarian aid is being transported to Albania. That food is being sent to the northern parts of Albania where it is being directly distributed to refugees who are arriving from Kosovo. "Humanitarian aid which is being sent to Kosovo is arriving from our warehouses on the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," said Quentier. She said that the UNHCR has increased its staff in Pristina and that it is estimated that in Kosovo alone there are currently at least 45,000 displaced persons. ""The exact number is very difficult to ascertain," said Quentier. (hina) as bag 111417 MET jun 98