FEW PEOPLE CROSS INTER-ENTITY LINE ON ELECTION DAY - UNHCR

SARAJEVO, Sept 16 (Hina) - The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in Sarajevo on Monday that fewer people than usual had crossed the inter-entity line on election day. The reason for this could be a lack of interest in politics in the other entity, particularly after the postponement of municipal elections, but also fear, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski told a news conference. Several weeks ago, UNHCR expressed concern that the September 14 election would not prevent the continuation of ethnic cleansing because it appeared that nationalist leaders would be re-elected and would continue the policy they had so far pursued, he said. Janowski said that without more resolute international pressure a substantial change in the situation in Bosnia- Herzegovina could not be expected, particularly in the case of the return of refugees. The Sarajevo office of the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a statement that the election had passed without violence but that a large number of voters had actually been prevented from voting. The ICG - which gathers a number of former heads of state, ministers and prominent public figures - estimated that 200,000 people had been denied the right to vote, adding that Bosnian Serb authorities had done everything to prevent the arrival of refugees from the territory of the Moslem-Croat Federation. The ICG statement said that the election had not been free, fair and democratic. (hina) vm 161351 MET sep 96