CROATIAN GOVERNMENT REJECTS ACCUSATIONS BY SERB PARTY

ZAGREB, July 26 (Hina) - The Croatian government on Friday rejected as "unfounded and false" accusations by the Serbian People's Party (SNS) that the government aims to create an ethnically pure Croatia. SNS leader Milan Djukic told a news conference on Wednesday that "the aim of the official policy is to create an ethnically pure Croatia, a Croatia without Serbs," the government's public relations office said in a statement. Djukic's statement was prompted by Tuesday's visit of a government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak to the Donji Lapac area which had been liberated in a military operation last summer. Djukic was also a member of the delegation. The aim of the visit was to examine, in contacts with local civilian authorities and residents, ways of normalizing living conditions, restoring utility and health services and ensuring safety in the area. "The utility and social infrastructure and employment are equally available to all people, regardless of their ethnic origins, and the efforts and funds Croatia has committed for that purpose are the best indicator of its attitude," the statement said. (hina) as vm 261451 MET jul 96