CROAT-MOSLEM AGREEMENT ON MOSTAR MUST BE IMPLEMENTED - SFOR

SARAJEVO, Feb 13 (Hina) - The situation in Mostar is calm but tense and NATO-led SFOR troops have stepped up patrols at all key points in the town, Stabilization Force spokesman Andrew Saddleton said in Sarajevo on Thursday. Saddleton said that SFOR troops continued searching for illegal weapons and had so far seized two assault rifles from Croat policemen in west Mostar. He said that SFOR would assist international police in efforts to return Moslems evicted after incidents that had erupted on Monday to their homes in the Croat-controlled part of town. UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko said that three Moslem families had been returned to their apartments on Wednesday under the escort of international and Croat police. In the process the Moslems were threatened by unidentified civilians and there were signs that in the meantime their apartments had been broken into and looted, he added. Ivanko stressed that it was encouraging that Croat police had for the first time participated in the return of Moslem expellees to their homes. Michael McLay, spokesman for the office of the international community's high representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, said that Wednesday's agreement between top Croat and Moslem officials on stabilizing the situation in Mostar had been most substantial to date, with precise obligations and instructions on what to do. McLay stressed that the agreement had been reached at the highest level and that it must be implemented. Federal authorities should show the people that they are capable of implementing what has been agreed, he said, adding that a continuation of lawlessness and violence would not be tolerated. (hina) vm jn 131549 MET feb 97