NEW SWEEP OF TERROR OVER CROATS IN VOJVODINA

SUBOTICA, May 12 (Hina) - The house of Mate Mataric, one of the leaders of the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina, was burglarized Friday night in Sombor, north Serbia. A new sweep of terror against the Croats in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina started late last week, when a Catholic church in the village of Golubinci, west Vojvodina, was gutted, and its ancient library set on fire. Another church in the area, in the village of Hrtkovci, was also burglarized. Several days later, a recently installed cross in the village of Bac, near Sombor, was demolished with explosive. None of the perpetrators came under arrest so far. The northern-Serbian province of Vojvodina became a part of Yugoslavia in 1918, after a dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. With a largely mixed population of Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Croats and score of other groups, Vojvodina had a special autonomy in former Yugoslav Federation, until 1988 when a series of mass rallies orchestrated by Slobodan Milosevic led to its full annexation to Serbia. About 160,000 Croats live now in Vojvodina, while 50,000 have left since 1991. (Hina) mm bk 121919 MET may 95