RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR FAILS TO COMPREHEND MARTIC'S BEHAVIOUR

ZAGREB, June 16 (Hina) - International mediator Kai Eide expressed "deep regret" over the postponement of the Plitvice talks between Croatian government and Serb rebel representatives at a Thursday press conference at the UNPROFOR headquarters in Zagreb. He was speaking on behalf of the organisers, international mediator Ahrens, US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith and Russian ambassador Leonid Kerestedijanc, who were to broker this round of talks. The two sides were to confirm their attendance at the Plitvice talks by 12:00 hours Thursday, which the Serb side failed to do. Commenting on the issue of presence of reporters as one of the reasons why the talks failed, Eide said the mediators "fully supported the Croatian request that reporters be present, because it is one of the standards upheld in the proceedings of the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia." Asked what the Russian government had done to persuade the Serbs to talk, Ambassador Kerestedijanc said he "failed to comprehend Martic's behaviour." The obstruction of talks makes the situation more dangerous and opens the possibility of a renewal of hostilities, which may prove a catastrophe for both sides, said US Ambassador Galabraith. Asked whether Croatia was becoming another Cyprus, Ambassador Galbraith replied in the negative. "There is a huge difference between the two situations," he said, adding that Turkey and the Turkish part of Cyprus lived under normal economic conditions, while Serbia and the UNPAs were under sanctions. Asked whether there was any danger that Croatia would renew the war after the expiry of the UNPROFOR mandate on September 30, Galbraith said he "expected that political leaders would make some calculations about the number of tanks, planes etc., keeping in mind how much Croatia had already suffered." "I am convinced that they will wisely judge that the negotiations, spurred on by sanctions, will lead to a solution," Galbraith concluded. 161833 MET jun 94