DIPLOMATIC CORPS IN CROATIA VISIT WESTERN SLAVONIA

PAKRAC, May 8 (Hina) - The diplomatic corps of ambassadors accredited in Croatia together with Croatian Foreign Minister, Mate Granic today visited the liberated areas of the Pakrac and Lipik municipalities. They toured Gavrinica, the liberated outskirts of Pakrac, and the villages of Japaga and Seovica, where they could talked with local residents freely and without presence of journalists' and Croatian Foreign Ministry officials'. After the tour of the liberated areas about 40 ambassadors attended a reception in the town of Pakrac. There they talked with Croatian authorities representatives. One of foreign diplomats asked when the Croatian Army would withdraw its troops from the newly liberated areas. An aide to Croatian Interior Minister, Josko Moric, told them there were no reasons any longer for presence of the Croatian Army in the area, and "we suppose that until this evening all army will withdraw from the area." The Apostolic Nuncio, Vatican's Ambassador, Msgr. Giulio Einaudi, asked when Croatian displaced people would return to the areas in question. Minister Granic said about 14,000 Croats had been expelled from Pozega-Slavonia County (during Serb aggression), and an objective of the Croatian state was to return them to their homes. "However, most houses of the (expelled) people have been destroyed, and we hope that intensive reconstruction will soon commence here," Granic added. Granic emphasized that a goal of the Foreign Ministry was that the diplomatic corps should tour villages in the liberated area where Croatian Serbs remained to live. "First impressions are more than good. I think this will have a positive impact on the wish that the Republic of Croatia immediately re-assume the entire civilian authority with the monitors' presence, and that no UNCRO mandate will be renewed here," Granic said. Asked by a Hina correspondent which models of the international presence in the liberated areas of western Slavonia would be allowed by Croatia, Granic said Croatia would let that only observers be there. At the border some arrangements would be possible, but in the whole of western Slavonia only observers, he said adding the monitors should be from the European Union and United Nations. Asked by the Hina corespondent whether it was true that the international community was exerting pressure on Croatia so that the liberated areas of western Slavonia be declared a 'safe haven' in line with models of the safe areas in Bosnia, Granic said there were such kind of pressure. We believed that even belated surrender of some Serb rebels had been caused by such proposals, since the rebel Serbs had received certain promises that the area would be declared a 'safe haven'. Even now there were similar attempts, particularly by the Russian Federation, but we hoped that we would remove such threats, Granic said reiterating that Croatia would accept exclusively observers. (hina) mm mms 082202 MET may 95