APPEAL TO EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

ZAGREB, March 6 (Hina) - Mayors and heads of the occupied Croatian towns and municipalities today sent an appeal to the congress of local and regional authorities of Europe for help in the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian occupied areas into the country's legal and political system, the return of the displaced persons, the reconstruction and development of the war-damaged areas as well as for the assistance in Croatia's admittance to European integrational processes. The appeal was sent from today's session of the Croatian parliamentary committee for the peaceful reintegration. The committee head, Drago Krpina, said there had been 560,000 people in those areas before the Serbian aggression against Croatia, and 310,000 of them had been Croats and members of non- Serb national minorities, while 250,000 inhabitants had belonged to the Serb national minority. During the occupation Serb self-styled authorities had undertaken complete 'ethnic cleansing' of the areas, so that now about 200,000 inhabitants, mostly Serbs, remained there, he said. (hina) mar mms 061547 MET mar 95