MINISTER PENIC PROTESTS TO KLEIN ABOUT BOROVO NASELJE INCIDENT

ZAGREB, Jan 26 (Hina) - A bus of the Osijek-based 'Panturist' company, with eight Croatian policemen, one employee of the Croatian pension and disablement insurance company and two employees of the Osijek-based Slavonska Bank, was attacked and damaged at Borovo Naselje (eastern Croatian area under UNTAES control) on Saturday afternoon. Passengers sustained no injuries, but the bus was badly damaged. Croatia's Interior Minister, Ivan Penic, on Sunday sent a letter to the Transitional Administrator of eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Sirmium, Jacques Klein, protesting strongly at Saturday's incident at Borovo Naselje. At the beginning of the letter Minister Penic notified, in detail, General Klein of the incident at Borovo Naselje which happened at 15.00 hrs Saturday when unidentified attackers damaged a bus with the licence plate 'OS 639 - HR '. There were eight employees of the Croatian Interior Ministry, one employee of the Croatian pension and disablement insurance company from Osijek and two workers of the Slavonska Bank in the bus at the moment of the attack. After they had finished their job in the town they went into the bus parked in front of the Pensioners' Centre, to return to their homes. While they were waiting until the UNTAES members came to escort the bus, unidentified attackers hurled some things at the bus, putting passengers and the driver in jeopardy and damaging the bus. After that the driver moved the bus 50 metres away, where UNTAES members came up to the bus and told him to drive to Vukovar and then to Vinkovci. The driver did so. After the bus arrived in Vinkovci, it was established that the passengers suffered no injury. However, the right side of the windscreen of the bus was damaged and the back right indicator cracked. The damage is estimated to be about 14,000 kuna (3950 German marks). Later on, policemen (TPF ) went to the spot of the incident at Borovo Naselje and made an on-the-spot investigation. But they failed to find traces which may help them to identify the perpetrator. "Dear Mr. Klein, I strongly protest at the inefficiency of the TPF. The lack of efficiency has not been by chance. It is the consequence of the fact that the TPF consists mostly of Serbs. This event warns us seriously that we have to change quickly the national structure of the TPF," the Croatian Interior Minister wrote in the letter. "We request you to take all necessary measures, which fall within your competence, so that the perpetrators may be identified in this case, and motive and grounds of such behaviour be found out and so that recurrence of such cases may be prevented in future," Penic wrote adding that the measure should also help guarantee complete security and safety of Croatian Interior Ministry officials and other Croatian services' employees in the area. (hina) mš 261953 MET jan 97