BOSNIAN CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY PASSES 21 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

ZAGREB, Jun 5 (Hina) - The Bosnian Federation Constituent Assembly today passed 21 amendments to the Federal Constitution, thus fulfilling its Dayton obligation to harmonise the Federal Constitution with that of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The amendments, which define the Federation as one of the two constituent entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina, marks the establishment of a unique legal system on the territory of the Bosnian Federation. The Assembly charged the committee on constitutional issues to harmonise the remaining four amendments within ten days. These amendments provide for the transfer of customs and foreign-policy competence from Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Federation, prescribe the procedure for appointing diplomatic staff and senior army officers and defines the structure of Sarajevo. Croat and Moslem Bench representatives, Ivan Bender and Dzevad Mlaco, welcomed the enactment of the constitutional amendments, describing it as a big step toward the strengthening of the Federation. The House today also heard a report of the missing persons committee which is responsible for coordinating the search for missing persons on the territory of the Federation, and particularly to search for those who took part in clashes between the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) and the Bosnian army. According to Committee chairman Hase Hajrulahovic, 2,145 Moslems and 216 Croats were reported missing during Croat-Moslem conflicts. So far, municipal authorities have released data on 700 missing persons. Some municipalities have not yet complied with the committee's request to provide the information in question. A Croat member of the Committee, Mirko Prskalo, suggested that the number of 2,145 missing Moslems may be exaggerated. He urged the Committee to thoroughly investigate the case of 26 missing Croats from Bugojno. The Bugojno case had already cropped up at the beginning of the session on Tuesday, as well as the mysterious disappearance of HVO general Vlado Santic, who had was abducted from a Bihac hotel in March 1995 and never heard of since. (hina) mm as 051928 MET jun 96