AID CONVOY TO LEAVE FOR CENTRAL BOSNIA DESPITE BLACKMAIL

SPLIT, Feb 15 (Hina) - The first ten trucks of a humanitarian convoy jointly sponsored by Croatian and Moslem religious organizations will leave Split tomorrow morning for destinations in central Bosnia, said organizers at a press conference in Split on Tuesday. It was said that every day 20 trucks would leave Split until about 4,000 tons of food were dispatched to Gornji Vakuf, Bugojno, Nova Bila, Vitez, Busovaca, Novi Travnik, Travnik and Zenica. Sevko Omerbasic, head of the Moslem charity Meshihat for Croatia and Slovenia, said the convoy had been granted written assurances from the Bosnian Presidency, the Bosnian army and the Bosnian Interior Ministry. He said 50 policemen would provide escort for the convoy from Gornji Vakuf to Zenica. Director of the St Anthony's Bread charity of the Bosnian Franciscan province Bozo Blazevic told the press conference he had been informed by UNPROFOR over the phone that Bosnian Army Third Corps officials in Zenica said they would not allow the convoy through unless the Moslems were given 70 percent of the aid. "This clashes with our previous agreement that the aid should be divided in two equal parts," said Blazevic, adding that the convoy would set out on its journey regardless of the blackmail. 152155 MET feb 94