MINES PRESENT GREAT DANGER IN CROATIA

OSIJEK, Feb 5 (Hina) - There are still about three million unremoved mines in Croatia. Since the beginning of the war, 300 children had been killed and 1,000 had been injured by mines, an envoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Osijek , Trufs Toggenburget, told reporters in Osijek on Wednesday. Most mines were located by the former line of separation between the Croatian armed force and Serb para-military forces, that is, in the Croatian Danubian area, Toggenburget said and warned about the enormous danger of mines which would continue in Croatia for another 25 years. The danger would remain for that long even if a thousand people kept continuously removing mines, he said. Toggenburget told reporters about the programme of preventive protection of mines. The programme envisages brochures, leaflets, video films and audio materials, as well as a media campaign about the dangers of mines, preventive measures and protection. The International Committee of the Red Cross will organise courses and workshops about the issue. The slogan of the action is - You survived in war, survive in peace, beware of mines. The programme was experimental and would be used in Cambodia, Angola and Chechnya, Toggenburget said. The ICRC has educated 80 instructors in Croatia who are working on the programme. (hina) lm jn 051812 MET feb 97