SARAJEVO, 14 Feb (Hina) - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum on Friday called all parties in Bosnia- Herzegovina to accept their share of responsibility from the decision of the arbitration commission on the temporary
status of Brcko.
SARAJEVO, 14 Feb (Hina) - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
John Kornblum on Friday called all parties in Bosnia-
Herzegovina to accept their share of responsibility from the
decision of the arbitration commission on the temporary status
of Brcko. #L#
Kornblum, who arrived in Sarajevo from Rome, accompanied
by high officials of foreign ministries of the Contact Group
for Bosnia and Herzegovina, stated after his meeting with
Croat and Muslim representatives that any decision different
from the one made by arbitrator Roberts Owen was not possible,
since tensions in the Brcko area were considerable and key
provisions from the Dayton peace agreement had not been
implemented in the area.
That was the main reason why arbitrator Owen postponed
the final decision on the status of Brcko for a year, Kornblum
said.
The forthcoming one-year period should be a framework for
intensified political efforts aimed at stabilizing the
situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as in Brcko, Kornblum
said.
The President of the Bosnian Presidency, Alija
Izetbegovic, told reporters after the meeting that the
decision on Brcko was unjust, but represented another step
towards justice. Owen's document had a lot of flaws,
Izetbegovic said, stressing the undefined role of
international police forces in Brcko and a lack of strict
deadlines.
The President of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Kresimir Zubak, expressed hope that in the forthcoming period
refugees would return to their homes, freedom of movement
would be established and that infrastructure and economy in
Brcko would be reconstructed.
Bosnia's Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic said he hoped
that the element of justice would have absolute priority in
1998, when the arbitration commission is to consider the
status of Brcko. According to Prlic, the decision on Brcko
simply had to be postponed.
'If there was a victor in the procedure before the
arbitration commission, then it was the multiethnic concept,
which we have been advocating', Federation Vice President Ejup
Ganic said.
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