ICTY OPPOSES ALTERATIONS TO ELECTION RULES

SARAJEVO, Sept 12 (Hina) - The international war crimes tribunal in The Hague disagrees with a decision reached by the Temporary Election Commission to the effect that no arrests of persons other than those officially indicted in The Hague will take place on Bosnia's municipal election days (13 and 14 September), UN spokesman Aleksandar Ivanko said in Sarajevo on Friday. The decision was, according to Ivanko, made by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe without consultations with the international war crimes tribunal. According to Chris Riley, a spokesman for the NATO-led Stabilization Force, NATO's mandate in BH remained unaltered. The regulation that war crime suspects are to be arrested if come across during NATO's regular tasks would remain effective, he said. The highest body in charge of scheduling and holding the election - OSCE's Temporary Election Commission - two days ago altered Article 232 of the election rules and provisions to the effect that only those persons officially indicted in The Hague who refused to appear before the tribunal may be brought under arrest on election days. This eliminated the possibility of arrests on the basis of secret bills of indictment, which is believed to be + a significant concession to Bosnian Serb authorities. (hina) ha jn 121512 MET sep 97