BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY MEMBERS DISAGREE OVER GOVT COMPOSITION

SARAJEVO, 8 Nov (Hina) - The Bosnian Presidency members Kresimir Zubak, Alija Izetbegovic and Momcilo Krajisnik agreed at today's session in Sarajevo on general powers of the Presidency's Council of Ministers. However, the three officials did not manage to reach agreement on the Council's organization. Zubak's representative in a working group in charge of the establishment of the Council of Ministers, Martin Raguz, told reporters after the meeting that President Izetbegovic had accepted a proposal that the Council should have five ministers and a chairman. 'The proposal was formerly being advocated both by the Croat side and the high representative Carl Bildt', Raguz said. The Serb side, however, still insists that the Council must be established in accordance with regulations provided for in the Dayton peace agreement. The Dayton agreement tentatively envisaged a chairman and two ministers, Raguz said. An official statement, issued after the session, said that the Serb representative Krajisnik had demanded that the Council of Ministers should have a chairman and ministers of foreign affairs and foreign trade. According to a proposal by the Bildt's office, the Council should have a chairman and five members - ministers of foreign affairs, foreign trade, budget, civil affairs and international and inter-entity communications. Krajisnik's refusal to accept the proposal which had previously been agreed upon by the other two members of the Presidency was 'bad news', Izetbegovic's advisor Mirza Hajric said. Hajric also told reporters that the talks on the Council of Ministers could now enter a crisis. He also announced that the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum should visit Sarajevo this weekend in order to boost the process of reaching agreement on the functioning of joint bodies of authority. (hina) rm jn 081655 MET nov 96