Of 28 evicted families from west Mostar, 23 returned home with SFOR help and 5 no longer wish to live in that part of the town, Alex Ivanko told a Press Conference today. Safet Orucevic, Acting Mayor of Mostar held talks with the BiH ombudsmen, Sir Martin Garrod, Special Envoy of HR Carl Bildt and Edward Joseph, OSCE Chief of the Regional Office in Mostar, on the situation in Mostar. After this meeting they held talks with Ivan Prskalo, Mostar Mayor.
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Situation in Mostar: An explosive device went off late last night in center of town and shots were fired at the bus station in east Mostar at 20:50 hrs. Police of so called Herceg-Bosna turned back a regular Sarajevo-Split Centrotrans bus line from the M 17 road. SFOR soldiers confiscated weaponry found with a policeman in west Mostar who was not on duty, Major Tony White, SFOR Spokesman told Press Conference, today.
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On the occasion of the Bajram bloodshed in Mostar, Islamic Community Rijaset received a letter from the World Conference for Religion and peace which condemns the incident and expresses condolences to the families of the killed and injured people.
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The Expert Media Sub-Commission held an urgent meeting in Mostar on 14 February and accepted decisions which demand that the Mayor and his Deputy undertake various actions and measures with an aim to bringing truth and reconciliation into the media in both parts of Mostar.
Mario Nobilo, Croatian Ambassador to UN, said that he didn’t wish to comment on the incident in Mostar of 10 February before the IPTF official investigation results are known.
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Gabrielle Kirk, an ICTY Judge, demanded separately from the Croatian and BiH Government on 14 February to fulfill her demand of submitting documentary evidence of war crime accusations in the case of General Tihomir Blaskic before 19 February at 14,00h.
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Great Britain is ready to take an active part in the implementation of the Arbitrage Tribunal decision on Brcko, Charles Crawford, British Ambassador to BiH, said during his visit with Alija Izetbegovic, Presidency President, today.
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EU will help with the implementation of the Brcko decision, reads a Statement issued by the Holland EU Presidency. The statement points out that the co-operation of all sides in BiH is a foundation for its success. EU and its members will help the HR and his Brcko Deputy in managing this process and implementing the aims of the decision: freedom of movement, implementation of the local election results, and refugee return, reads the Statement.
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Trying to shed some light on the Brcko problem from the legal point of view at the Council of Bosniak Intellectual Tribune today, entitled “Twilight of Law”, Zlatko Badrov, a Federation Supreme Court Judge strongly criticised the Brcko decision. He said it represents a temporary solution which favors the Serb side. A political solution has been made under the strong influence of English political deliberation.
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The Club of Bosniaks decided to suggest Prof. Dr.Ejup Ganic to be appointed Federation Acting President from the Bosniak people. A discussion has stated that the BiH Federation Parliament is being blockaded particularly because of the non holding of meetings of the House of Peoples for which there are no plausible justifications. Following conclusions, Mariofil Ljubic, Parliament Chairman will be asked to set a session date at which all the regulations in his field of responsibility will be discussed.
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Summary SRT News
Banja Luka – RS President Plavsic met head of the OSCE mission in Muslim-Croat Federation and RS Frowick and talked about forthcoming local elections and arbitration decision for Brcko. After the talks, President Plavsic said that they will discuss details of the elections in order to prevent any unexpected decisions. They will use the example of the September elections. She said that they also talked about Mr. Owen’s decision. The situation is good in Brcko, according to Ms. Plavsic, and there are no provocation. Mr. Frowick said that the forthcoming local elections will be very complex. He will have many contacts with the RS leadership until July. The OSCE must be very careful in Brcko and Mostar where they expect problems for the elections, Frowick said.3:00
Banja Luka – President Palvsic met a delegation of the Serb Forum of Intellectuals and she presented them total political situation in the RS. The Intellectuals were especially interested in economic reconstruction of the RS, and the Brcko issue. they emphasised the importance of the RS constitution and legislation as the basic principles of their state.
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Pale – President of the [BiH] Union presidency Krajisnik met German Ambassador to Muslim-Croat Federation and the RS Preisinger and talked about further implementation of the DPA, especially its Annex 9 [establishing and implementation of the joint institutions].
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London – the RS delegation headed by president of the government Kalinic visited British Foreign Office, Parliament, opposition, and the ruling party representatives. They will also visit Northern Ireland and Belfast. In the interview given to BBC, Kalinic explained the current situation in the RS, and emphasised that RS leadership and people fully support the DPA. Commenting the arbitration decision for Brcko, Kalinic said that RS should not do anything that would endanger current peace. He said that the world and international community must be even-handed towards RS and the Federation. He also said that the international financial support is very important for the RS existence. RS established its authorities and legislative bodies that function very good, and which are based on the democracy taken as an example from the western countries.
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Pale – regular Government session – the government discussed pre-drafts of the Citizenship Law, Passports Law, and Immunity Law, as well as operational tasks of the customs agreement between the RS and Federation. The representatives of government and common institutions established working groups which concluded that offered pre-draft Laws cannot be used as base for the DPA implementation. Therefore, the interior affairs board gave new proposal which is in accordance with the DPA and protects RS citizens. The government also concluded that CoM minister must lean on the respective ministries of RS as to protect RS rights, and respect the RS rules. Protection of the entity immunity was the main reason for adopting the interim Law on Passports.
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Bijeljina – RS army HQ commander Colic met representatives of the RS Ministry of Defence and talked about improvement of living standards of the RS army, establishing of the infrastructure, and adopting of professional military service. Colic also talked with military adviser to HR Bildt admiral Forbes about the security situation after the arbitration decision, and reorganisation of the army. Colic said that Muslim army is conducting the secret mobilisation of their troops, and moving them towards RS borders. Colic emphasised a problem of increased presence of Mujaheedins in the Muslim army which indicates at serious preparations for another war. The RS army does not have any aggressive intentions, and its only task is RS if it is attacked.
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Bonn – HR Bildt visited Germany and talked with its officials on German contribution to democracy and stability of the RS and Croat-Muslim Federation.