LOCAL SERBS WITHDRAW FROM ALL IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEES

OSIJEK, Feb 3 (Hina) - The head of the government office for restoration of Croatian authority in UN-administered eastern Croatia, Ivica Vrkic, said Monday evening that local Serb representatives had withdrawn from all joint committees for the peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia. "We were informed by Vojislav Stanimirovic that the decision had been made because of the 'new situation' and that it would be in force until Wednesday when the local Serb assembly in Vukovar would take a stance on it and present new political views," Vrkic said. He added that several implementation committees, including the one for the reintegration of the footwear company Borovo, were scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Vrkic's deputy Mirko Tankosic said that senior UNTAES officials had stressed that nothing should prevent local elections from taking place in mid-March. Tankosic said that additional security had been demanded for Croatian employees in offices issuing Croatian documents in the UN- controlled region. Between 300 and 500 people travel to the region on a daily basis to work, he added. UNTAES spokesman Philip Arnold told UN-run radio that this act by the local Serbs was confusing, adding that he believed that it was caused by their disappointment with the presidential statement of the UN Security Council regarding the Croatian government's letter of intent on the completion of the peaceful reintegration process, Croatian television said in a prime-time news programme. Arnold said that there were rumours in Vukovar that Serbs were planning to leave the region soon in an attempt to divert international attention from the events in Belgrade to a mass-scale exodus from Croatia. Arnold called on the Serbs to disregard such rumours and accept Croatian documents. Serb-run Beli Manastir television on Monday evening quoted Serb leader Goran Hadzic as saying that the Serbs would not go to the polls on March 16 unless a decision was made on establishing a single county in the region. Hadzic condemned the adoption of the presidential statement, expressing his disappointment with the Croatian letter of intent which he said "has greater diplomatic power than the Erdut agreement (on the peaceful reintegration)." (hina) vm jn 032235 MET feb 97