PANL DISCUSSION BY GENERAL KLEIN

VINKOVCI, 10 August (Hina) - Commenting on DPs' request for an imminent return to thier homes in the Croatian Danube region, Transitional Administrator for E. Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, General Klein, appealed for their patience "because in such a short period of time we could not have mended something that has been destroyed for fve years." Speaking at a panel discussion in the Croatian town of Vinkovci, he said his administration has met all of its goals and 850 men were presently demining Lipovac, Podgradje, Apsevci and Ceric, which would be ready for the return of DPs by this winter. The UNTAES' mandate will not be extended beyond June or July 1997, but that does not mean that repatriation will have to wait that long, said Klein. He confirmed that exhumation of mass graves in Ovcara near Vukovar, Tordinci and at other locations in the Croatian Danibe region, will commence on 1 September with UNTAES's assistance. Klein said he believed that Croatia and FRY would recognize each other, which would lead to the disclosing of information on the plight of the missing and the POWs. It is my duty to install Croatian institutions in the Danube region, as we did in Djeletovici, where demining of oil fields will begin in a few days. Finally, Gen. Klein said there was no doubt that E. Slavonia, Baranja and western Sirmium were Croatian territory. mr (Hina) 101953 MET aug 96