WASHINGTON ASKS FOR DELAY OF DISCUSSION ON WORLD BANK LOAN TO CROA TIA

TIA WASHINGTON, June 24 (Hina) - The United States Administration on Tuesday confirmed that it has requested a "technical postponement" of a discussion on a World Bank loan for stimulating investing into Croatia, due to unfulfilled obligations toward the Peace Agreement on Bosnia- Herzegovina. According to a State Department spokesman, John Dinger, the U.S. was disappointed with Croatia's behaviour in relation to several key issues concerning the implementation of the Dayton accord. The U.S. wants to postpone the discussion on the loan, in order to see how Croatia will cooperate with the International war crimes tribunal in The Hague and concerning the return of refugees. The U.S. expressed concern over Croatia's falling short to fully exert its influence in the delivery of war criminals, Dinger said, adding that the U.S. Administration would like to see a more substantial improvement in relation to the return of Serb refugees and displaced persons, and would also like Croatia to open additional border crossings with Bosnia-Herzegovina, and remove all obstacles to travelling. The World Bank's Office for Europe confirmed that the bank's Administration Committee had postponed the discussion on the USD 30 million-loan to stimulate private investing into Croatia until Thursday. The State Department's spokesman said that the U.S. would on Thursday request again that the discussion be postponed. (hina) ha jn 242355 MET jun 97