CRO DISPLACED PERSONS EXPRESS DISSATISFACTION WITH UNTAES

OSIJEK, Oct 4 (Hina) - Representatives of the Association of Displaced Croats (ZPH) from the Osijek and Vukovar Counties, head of the Nijemci and Antunovac municipality and the ZPH president on Friday met in Osijek, eastern Croatia, with UNTAES' civil affairs head Gerard Fischer. Osijek County ZPH president Tomo Povreslo expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that transitional administrator General Jacques Klein was not present at the meeting even though he had been invited and stressed that the displaced still insisted on meeting with him. Povreslo expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that 80,000 displaced persons had been waiting six years to return to their homes and that since the beginning of UNTAES' mandate not one had. "The displaced cannot be satisfied with explanations that it is impossible to go to the occupied villages allegedly because of mines, when it is well known that people live there", Povreslo said. ZPH president Mato Simic reiterated the demands of the displaced persons from the 13 September protest rallies in Osijek and Vukovar, which had been forwarded to Klein. The demands include an organized visit to cemeteries on the territory under transitional administration on All Saints' Day, safe conditions for the return and in particular that the UNTAES mandate end on 15 January next year. Simic also warned about looting of socially-owned and personal property. Vukovar County ZPH co-president Pero Cobankovic recalled that 45,000 displaced were still waiting to return to that county. The displaced persons' representatives also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the implementation of the return pilot-project had not begun, stressing that all conditions existed for the return, especially to the villages of Lipovac, Nijemci, Bilje and Antunovac. Fischer said that the fact that not one displaced person had returned depended exclusively on security conditions and Klein's decision. He recalled that next week the Croatian government and UNTAES would begin registering socially-owned property on the territory controlled by UNTAES and that soon all vehicles there would have to have Croatian license plates. Concerning the protection of border crossings, Fischer said that the Croatian tariff system should in the transitional administration area be applied as of 1 November. Concerning the visits to cemeteries on All Saints' Day, Fischer said that as many as possible would be organized, but that it depended exclusively on security conditions. He concluded by saying that the decision on the termination of UNTAES' mandate was up to the UN Security Council. (hina) ha 041925 MET oct 96