SERBS DESECRATE CHURCH, ATTACK DISPLACED CROATS IN ILOK

ILOK, 24 Dec (Hina) - A group of Serbs caused a serious incident in the eastern Croatian town of Ilok on Tuesday. During a Christmas Eve mass in the local Roman Catholic church of Ivan Kapistran, which was held for a group of 44 Croat displaced people and Croats who remained in the village during the war, a group of some hundred local Serbs gathered in front of the church and started throwing explosive devices and shouting insults at a congregation of about 200 Croats. During a lunch, which was organised by Ilok Croats in the dining hall of a nearby monastery, the Serbs burst into the church, physically assaulted several Croats and members of the U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) attending the mass, and destroyed the sacristy. After UNTAES officials intervened, the Serbs withdrew from the church but remained outside, holding the congregation under siege for three hours, until UNTAES back-up from Vukovar arrived at the site and freed the Croats. After that, the Croat displaced left Ilok under the escort of UNTAES members and Transitional Police. Despite additional security forces, the Serbs threw stones at the buses with displaced Croats and shattered several windows on UNTAES mini buses. Today's visit of displaced Ilok Croats, Deputy Agriculture Minister Ivan Juros, exiled Ilok mayor Stipan Kraljevic and his deputy Petar Cobankovic had been organised by the Croatian Government Office for the U.N.-administered Danube river region and UNTAES. There are 700 Croats and more than 1,200 ethnic Slovaks currently living in Ilok. (hina) rm 241901 MET dec 96