HEWITT: SERBS SHOULD ACCEPT GENEROUS OFFER BY CROATIAN GOVT

ZAGREB, 7 Feb (Hina) - Representatives of the Contact Group sent a message to the Serbs living in the Croatian Danubian area saying that the time for negotiations had passed and that they should accept a generous offer Croatia has made in its Letter of Intent to the U.N. Security Council, said Gavin Hewitt, British Ambassador to Croatia on Friday. #L# The time for negotiations was over and the Serb leaders had to encourage their people to take the full advantage of the offer, Hewitt said, speaking about the message the Contact Group ambassadors conveyed to the Serb leaders in Vukovar on Thursday. 'The offer by the Croatian authorities is a very good and solid basis for the future', he said. According to the international community, the concessions Croatia was offering to the Serbs in its Letter of Intent guaranteed rights which went well beyond the Basic Agreement, the British ambassador said. The Contact Group ambassadors told the Serb leaders that they had to convince their people to stay in the region, take Croatian documents and participate in the forthcoming elections...the international community was convinced that it was in the best interest of the local Serbs. Hewitt added that the Contact Group wanted to emphasise to the local Serbs that the international community was interested in their future and that it would do everything in their power to look after the interests of those people in terms of their humane, civic and political rights. The international community also expected Croatia to fulfill its obligations from the Letter of Intent to the U.N. Security Council, Hewitt stressed. The Contact Group ambassadors called on the local Serbs to take Croatian documents without delay, register electorally, establish parties and participate in the elections. There was confusion among the Serbs and that confusion had been created over the years by the Serb leadership, Hewitt said, adding he expected that some Serbs would leave the region, which was the unavoidable consequence of the feeling of insecurity created by the Serb leadership. He said he hoped that the departure of Serbs registered in the past several days would be stopped and that Serbs would take part in 16 March elections. 'We, as international community, see no difficulties in going ahead with the proposed date in March, but only if the Croatian authorities have absolutely ensured that every single person who is eligible to vote in eastern Slavonia has the documents which are required for the voting', Hewitt said. The Croatian authorities would be responsible themselves for any possible postponement, in case the Serbs had difficulties in getting the documents. The fact that 'no one knows how many Serbs are living currently in the Croatian Danubian area' was going to be a source of contention, Hewitt said. The number provided by the Croatian government on 88,000 Serbs was too low, Hewitt said, adding he estimated that there were 130,000 people in the area, 100,000 of them Serbs. More would be known once the election lists were completed, he said. Judging from Hewitt's impressions of the Thursday meeting with the local Serbs, the Serbs were feeling that 'no one has again taken into account their interests' and that they were 'the only ones to make concessions', despite serious concessions made by the Croatian authorities. The local Serb leaders Goran Hadzic and Vojislav Stanimirovic greeted the Presidential Statement by the Security Council, especially those items which go beyond the Basic Agreement, such as the encouraging of Croatia to consider the possibility of extending the period of demilitarization of the area. The British ambassador ruled out the possibility of a Croatian military intervention in the area. According to information available to him, that was not on the agenda, Hewitt said. (hina) rm jn 071733 MET feb 97