U.S. AMBASSADOR ON CROAT-MUSLIM AGREEMENT

ZAGREB, Mar 8 (Hina) - The Washington agreement between Bosnian Croats and Muslims represents a positive beginning of global solving of the crisis in the region, U.S. ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith told a press conference in Zagreb on Tuesday. After working out this agreement in detail and drafting the constitution of the Muslim-Croat federation in Bosnia we will offer the Serbs a package in order to see whether they are ready to join the agreement and what kind of compromise inside Bosnia they are ready to accept, said ambassador Galbraith. It's up to Serbs to decide to join the agreement and Western world or to continue the war and to consign themselves to the past and to become "the black hole of Europe", said Galbraith. The American ambassador stressed that Washington agreement solved only the problem of governmental structure in the Croat- Muslim federation, while the question of borders within Bosnia remains completely opened and it is obvious that this will have to be discussed with Bosnian Serbs. Ambassador Galbraith underlined once again president Clinton's readines to send American troops to Bosnia if a peace agreement is reached. The position of the United States is to continue to support the territorial integrity of Croatia and the US government intends to work at a peaceful reintegration of UNPA zones into the Croatian legal system, said Galbraith answering a journalist's question, and added that each agreement about a peaceful reintegration of the UNPAs into Croatia will have to give guarantees of full protection of the Serb community in Croatia. The American strategy of solving a regional crisis involves the protection of Albanian minority rights in Kosovo, said Galbraith. According to the US ambassador, Serbia and Montenegro will have an opportunity to join the community of civilized nations only after solving all these problems. 081754 MET mar 94