UN TRANSITIONAL ADMINISTRATOR VISITS KNIN

KNIN, Sept 1 (Hina) - The UN Transitional Administrator of the Croatian Danube river area, William Walker, on Monday met the mayor of Knin, Milivoj Tomas, in this southern Croatian town. Following the closed-door meeting Walker said that a part of his mission was to promote the two-way return of Croats and Serbs. He added that during his visit to the Knin area and at the talks with Knin's mayor Tomas he had heard reasons why Croats in the area could not enthusiastically meet returning Serbs. The U.S. diplomat said that he was, nevertheless, pleased with the principled readiness of the mayor and other residents of Knin to support the two-way return. The mayor of Knin said that in the last period there had been no incidents regarding the return of Serbs who had fled the area during the liberating operations in 1995. Tomas added that so far 983 Serbs had come back to the Knin area on their own initiative and not in an organised manner conducted by the Croatian Government, UNTAES (UN Transitional Administration of the Croatian Danube area) and UNHCR. He said that during Monday's talks Walker announced the return of five thousand Serbs from the Danube area to other Croatian regions and the return of five thousand Croatians to the Danube area during September. (hina) jn mš 012301 MET sep 97