REHN PLEASED WITH TALKS WITH MOSTAR MAYOR, DEPUTY MAYOR

MOSTAR, Feb 20 (Hina) - The UN special rapporteur for human rights in the former Yugoslavia, Elisabeth Rehn, on Thursday afternoon said that local authorities bore direct responsibility for the protection of human rights in Mostar. During her four-hour-long visit to the southern Bosnian town, Ms. Rehn held separate talks with Mostar Mayor Ivan Prskalo, Deputy Mayor Safet Orucevic, Roman Catholic Bishop of Mostar, Msgr. Ratko Peric, Mufti of Herzegovina Seid Smajkic. At a news conference she said she had been encouraged with the talks and that she was always optimistic about developments in Mostar. Ms. Rehn declined to comment in detail on February 10 events in Mostar and explained that in this regard it was necessary to await a report of an international police commission. She told the conference that in mid-April she would submit a new report on the human rights situation in the former Yugoslavia to the United Nations. (hina) jn mš 202043 MET feb 97