IFOR APOLOGIZES TO BOSNIAN FEDERATION ARMY COMMANDER

SARAJEVO, Nov 15 (Hina) - French troops serving in the NATO-led peace Implementation Force (IFOR) detained Bosnian Federation army commander General Rasim Delic for about 45 minutes on Thursday, IFOR spokesman Simon Haselock confirmed on Friday. French soldiers detained General Delic longer than necessary and IFOR has apologized for it, Haselock told a news conference in Sarajevo. He stressed that there was no justification for such an act. Haselock said that IFOR troops stopped and checked vehicles whenever they suspected they could find weapons in them. He said that 14 automatic rifles had been found in a vehicle belonging to the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on Thursday outside the southwestern town of Posusje. He added that permission for the transport of the arms had not been requested. NATO troops have allegedly stopped General Delic several times in different parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but on Thursday they would not let him pass through. Delic's office said in a statement on Friday that the behaviour of the IFOR troops left the impression of "orchestrated pressure on President Izetbegovic as a participant in the Paris summit." Haselock resolutely rejected these allegations, stressing that what had happened was an isolated incident. (hina) vm jn 151515 MET nov 96