SFOR AND SARAJEVO AUTHORITIES ACCUSE EACH OTHER

SARAJEVO, March 10 (Hina) - Stabilization Force (SFOR) spokesman Tony White on Monday accused official representatives of the Bosnian Federation Interior Ministry, even Interior Minister Mehmed Zilic himself, of consciously spreading misinformation regarding the action of breaking up a group of terrorists in northern Bosnia, unjustifiedly connecting their members with members of SFOR. White told a news conference that SFOR had been informed that the Federal police had killed Zeferinij Biniam and arrested Lionel Dumont, suspected of heavy robbery and terrorist attacks, in Zenica on Sunday. #L# White hailed the anti-terrorist action, but stressed that the Interior Ministry and Sarajevo media had, without any evidence, connected Dumont with international community forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnian Federation Interior Ministry issued a statement previously, saying that Dumont was allegedly hiding at a SFOR base in Ilidza near Sarajevo and that the SFOR command did not was to hand him over to the local police. Interior Ministry spokesman Suad Arnautovic, providing no evidence, had maintained that SFOR was hiding terrorists. It was impermissible to spread such misinformation about SFOR whose mission was to help with stabilising the situation, White said, adding that the Sarajevo media in reporting about the case had also transgressed all professional norms. White especially warned that such practice continued even after the apprehension of Dumont and that Minister Zilic now without evidence claimed that SFOR was protecting other members of the terrorist group. Such accusations on the part of a minister were completely unprofessional and disturbing, White said. After the spectacular anti-terrorist action, which was covered by the Sarajevo television on Sunday, Federal Interior Minister Zilic and commander of the Zenica Canton police, Semsudin Mehmedovic, told a news conference that it was obvious that Bosnia-Herzegovina was under attack from foreign secret services whose goal was to prevent the establishment of the Bosnian Federation. Biniam, a Djibouti citizen, nicknamed Abdulah Bedr, and Dumont, also known as Abu Hamza, presented themselves as members of the former unit of Islam volunteers "El Mujaheed". It is also a known fact that Dumont is married with a Bosnian citizen and the French weekly L'Express ran an article two weeks ago, expressing an assumption that he was involved in a network whose aim was to train Islam fighters for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Monday's daily "Dnevni Avaz", expressing SDA's stances, not citing sources, claims that the action in Zenica was only the final act of an action which has been prepared for a year, because the police knew that t "several people were planted in Bosnia with the exclusive goal of destabilising relations in the Bosnian Federation and complicating infirm ties between Federal partners". The daily says that terrorist groups were organized by several foreign secret services and consists of criminals who would be absolved in they did the "dirty work". As the crucial proof that Biniam and Dumont are not of Islam, Avaz cites information that canned food made of pork was found in the apartment where they were hiding. Besides Dumont, the Bosnian Federation Interior Ministry is also holding in its jail Carl Mazzoni, an Italian who was arrested in an attempt to rob a gas station in Zenica on 15 February when a police officer was killed. It is assumed that all they acted together. They all were in possession of several forged passports of different countries. Police officials maintained that the robberies represented only a smoke screen for real goals of the terrorists, parts of the "special war against Bosnia-Herzegovina". (hina) lm mm 101545 MET mar 97