CROSS-EXAMINATION OF ANOTHER WITNESS AT BLASKIC TRIAL ENDS

THE HAGUE, July 25 (Hina) - Simon Leach, an ICTY investigation section team leader in central Bosnia and a Prosecution witness at the trial of Bosnian + Croat General Tihomir Blaskic, on Friday spoke about sources of information he had said during his testimony before the Hague Tribunal (or ICTY). Leach did not know when mosques had been damaged, photographs of which he had showed to the Trial Chamber , as he had not been personally present at the ruining of the buildings but heard of attacks on the villages + around Vitez (central Bosnia) in April 1993 from the second hand. Leach said that his investigating office's possessed Blaskic's written orders for an HVO (Bosnian Croat forces) action in villages around Vitez on 16 April 1993, but those orders did not contain the word "attack" and that he had copies of Blaskic's orders not to attack civilians. The witness could not confirm whether Blaskic had had the headquarters in Kiseljak (near Sarajevo) as Leach had claimed in his previous testimony. He also could not confirm whether Blaskic had been able to arrive in Kiseljak + except by UN cars after the (Moslem-led) Bosnian army had cut off the Vitez-Kiseljak road in January 1993. The Defence said that the entrance of Blaskic's headquarters had under fire and from the entrance it could not be seen what had been going on around the town. Leach added that explosions in Ahmici could be heard in Blaskic's headquarters in Vitez. But, a British battalion, located near Vitez, heard of + the April 16 Ahmici attack not until 20 or 21 April, the witness said quoting the battalion's commander Robert Stewart's statement. On Friday, the cross-examination of Leach ended Another Prosecution witness, Sefkija Dzidic of Vitez began to give his testimony on Friday as well. The testimony of Dzidic, a former commander of Moslem units in Vitez since 1992 and the current superintendent of one of two police stations in the town, will continue on Monday, 28 July. (hina) mš 251828 MET jul 97