DISPLACED CROATS' REPS VISIT BANJA LUKA ( Editorial: --> 9310 )

( Editorial: --> 9310 ) MOSTAR, Nov 8 (Hina) - A delegation of the Association of Displaced Bosnian Croats, headed by coordinator in charge of return of Croats to Republika Srpska, Zeljko Matic, visited Banja Luka on Saturday. Matic told reporters that Friday's meeting with representatives of local Serb authorities and international community officials had focused on "the concrete return of Croats to Banja Luka". "We also initiated talks about the return of Croats to Bosanska Krajina and Posavina," he added. Matic visited Simici, Barlovci and Ivanjska, into which Croats are to return soon, he said. Applications of 775 Croat families wishing to return to Banja Luka had been submitted to the town's UN Office, Matic said. International community representatives had pledged to reconstruct 200 damaged houses, he said, adding that out of the 3,000 remaining Croats in Banja Luka, 300 of them had been exiled from their apartments, and the local police had been asked to resolve the problem. Matic also visited a Croat boxer, Anton Josipovic, at the Banja Luka hospital, who had been shot during his recent visit to the town. (hina) lm 081900 MET nov 97