REACTIONS TO THURSDAY'S ATTACK ON FRANCISCAN MONASTERY

SARAJEVO, Feb 23 (Hina) - (By Ranko Mavrak) - The bomb attack on the St. Ante Franciscan monastery in Sarajevo on Thursday evening caused fierce and harsh reactions, but the perpetrators have not been caught. President Izetbegovic called the assailants "wretched cowards and deliberate enemies of Bosnia". Reis-l-ulema of the Islam community in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mustafa Effendia Ceric, in his letter stressed that he harshly condemned last week's attack and considered it an act against peace and co-existence. "This act indubitably represented a malicious attempt of destroying estates which had been built and protected with love and care by people of all religions in Bosnia-Herzegovina," said the letter emitted by all Sarajevo media. Sarajevo Canton prefect Midhat Haracic pledged that everything would be done to find the perpetrators and punish them most severely. It is interesting that the Iranian Embassy in Sarajevo also reacted to the attack on the monastery. The Embassy's statement, unusual when it comes to such events, said that such attacks were aimed at undermining order and damaging the integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina and peace in it, as well as drawing attention away from issues important for the country, namely Brcko and the return of refugees. Sarajevo television anchorman on the central news on Saturday, recalling Thursday's attack, said that "Bosnian Franciscans, whether anyone likes it or not, are the oldest witnesses of the idea on Bosnia". Father Petar Andjelovic, speaking on the news, said that children, reporters not the police were not behind the attack on the monastery, but those in power who even today dreamed about the final breakdown and destruction of Bosnia. While some were fantasising how to separate some parts of the country and attach them to Serbia or Croatia, others would like to form the remainder into an Islam state, Father Petar said, stressing that Bosnian Franciscans would not yield before such powers, nor would they give up the values they had advocated for the past 700 years of their existence in Bosnia-Herzegovina. A reporter of the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjenje" stressed that it was not the least strange that it was precisely Bosnian Franciscans who had been attacked in these times of confusion. Concluding that the attack had most probably been a reflection of the situation in Mostar, Oslobodjenje warned that any retribution had to be prevented, adding that the only people who could be happy with drawing Bosniacs into this vicious circle were the enemies of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosniac conscious and political wisdom were being tempted, Oslobodjenje stressed, at the same time criticising Izetbegovic for not having reacted to attacks on Franciscans when they had started. It seems that a part of the Mostar scenario is trying to be shifted to Sarajevo. There is an ominous similarity in the unidentified white "Ford Escort" without license plates, which was noticed speeding away from the scene at the time of the attack on the monastery with never found vehicles from which bombers spread fear in Mostar. in the second year from Dayton, Bosnia is sadly beginning to seem like North Ireland because even heavily armed NATO troops can no longer impress advocates of chauvinistic ideals. Even if somebody expected this, they surely could not have presumed that this would be more clearly shown within the Bosnian Federation, but rather in the relations between the two entities. (hina) lm 231347 MET feb 97