IFOR TO PROVIDE LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR BOSNIAN ELECTIONS

SARAJEVO, 4 Sept (Hina) - A special crisis team would be formed in the NATO Rapid Reaction command in Sarajevo with the aim of supervising Bosnian general elections, IFOR spokesman in Sarajevo Bratt Boudreau told a press conference on Wednesday. The team would fully control the situation on the ground one week before and one week after the elections and determine measures which should be taken in possible critical situations. The team would be supported by the officials of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organisations directly involved in the implementation of the elections. #L# IFOR members would secure all necessary logistical support and provide the OSCE with military equipment. Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Plowright of the IFOR logistical department added that the elections in Bosnia would be organised at 4,625 polling stations. Until September 8, all polling places would be provided with necessary equipment. Ballots would be transported to polling stations by September 12 under NATO escort. After voting is over, IFOR members will transport sealed polling boxes to one of 29 specially assigned IFOR bases where ballots will be put in sacks and transported to the OSCE mission headquarters in Sarajevo. The counting of votes would take three to five days and after the elections, all ballots would be put in archives as permanent documents. IFOR military planes will transport to Sarajevo refugee ballots which will be counted together with the ballots of those voters who voted in Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) rm 041511 MET sep 96