U.N. OFFICE RECEIVES SERB REQUESTS FOR CROATIAN DOCUMENTS

OSIJEK, Aug 23 (Hina) - The UN office in Beli Manastir, set up on August 20 to issue Croatian documents to people in the UN- administered area, has received 251 requests for birth certificates and 281 requests for citizenship, Franjo Zdravcevic of the implementation committee for civil administration told a news conference in Osijek on Friday. The UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) had been asked to provide personnel and inform the citizens about the competences of the office, whose work would soon expand to other areas under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry, he said. Zdravcevic said that the Beli Manastir office had also received 15 requests for identification cards and nine for passports. The deputy head of the Croatian government office for the occupied area, Mirko Tankosic, said that the office had been opened under an agreement with UNTAES because the Serb side had refused to sign an understanding memorandum. He said that the office was also authorized to handle the issues of pensions and refugee status and to extend legal counsel. Similar offices were expected to be opened in Ilok and Vukovar next week and the Croatian government was ready to open two more in the Baranja region because of the great interest of the local population, Tankosic said. (hina) vm 231405 MET aug 96