GRANIC, SILAJDZIC SIGN PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT LAST NIGHT

WASHINGTON, Mar 2 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic, Bosnian Premier Haris Silajdzic and Chairman of the Herzeg-Bosnian Presidential Council Kresimir Zubak signed a preliminary agreement "with a view to establishing a federation in Bosnia-Herzegovina" at the State Department building in Washington on Tuesday evening. The signing of the agreement was witnessed by US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who had put forth a significant effort to bring the sides to reach an agreement. According to the Reuter news agency, the agreement creates a framework for establishing a federation of Bosnian Croats and Moslems. It also defines the principles of a preliminary agreement on a confederation of future Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The future federation would be made up of five to seven cantons with the majority of one of the two nations. The federal government's competence would include foreign policy, defence, economic policy, finance and trade. According to State Department sources, the document specifies that the president and the vice-president of the federation would be elected by a two-chamber Parliament. Croat and Moslem presidents would alternate, each holding a mandate for a year. The agreement specifies that the status of the areas with the majority Serbian population will be "defined in the course of the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia." The agreement guarantees all refugees the right to return to their homes and to have back the property that has been seized from them. Under the preliminary agreement, all foreign military formations, excepting those whose presence has been authorised by the Bosnian Government or the UN, are to leave the territory of the federation. "The two sides agreed to set up a high-level interim commission, which will immediately undertake concrete measures to establish the federation (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and the confederation (of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia)," reported France Presse, quoting the agreement. The commission is to start working on Friday in Vienna, and is expected to complete its task by March 15. 021033 MET mar 94