(6 Aug 1997) English/Nat
Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic met with the Deputy High Representative Gerd Wagner in Bosnia on Tuesday - to discuss Croat action barring Muslim refugees from returning to their homes in Jajce in central Bosnia.
Ganic has condemned the weekend attacks on Muslim refugees which sent 500 of them fleeing from a central Bosnian village.
Ganic says the Office of the High Commission has promised to help the refugees return by the end of the week.
The town of Psenik, near Jajce in Central Bosnia sits abandoned - its Muslim inhabitants forced from their homes by Bosnian-Croats over the weekend.
Muslim refugees had started venturing back to Jajce about three weeks ago.
The town was striving to be a model of ethnic harmony - thereby qualifying for more economic aid.
However things turned sour last Saturday and Sunday - Croats forcing the Muslims out of their homes, and setting several houses on fire.
The body of a 62-year-old Muslim man - apparently killed in the incident - was found with a bullet near it.
Local authorities from central Bosnia agreed Tuesday to form a joint police force
to clear the way for hundreds of Muslim expelled from the Croat-held town to return once again.
A local interior ministry divided evenly between Croats and Muslims will be formed in the region by August 11 - a joint police force should be functioning by the end of the month.
International officials on Tuesday reiterated their demand that up to 500 refugees expelled from Jajce be allowed to return as soon as possible.
In Sarajevo, Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic met with the Deputy High Representative Gerd Wagner.
He has condemned the ousting of Muslims from their homes.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We condemn what's happening in the outset in strong terms and the Office of the High Representative promises to help refugees to go back by the end of next week.
SUPER CAPTION: Ejup Ganic, Bosnian Vice President
The Office of the High Commission hopes some positives will emerge from the incident.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We then used this incident as a starting point to initiate a program on the return of refugees, of all refugees to the whole of Central Bosnia."
SUPER CAPTION: Gerd Wagner, Deputy High Representative
A spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva says the UNHCR sent an official to Jajce on Tuesday to talk to local authorities.
The U.N. refugee agency says that within the Muslim-Croat federation, about 27,000 refugees have returned to homes in areas dominated by the other ethnic group.
Only about 1,200-1,500 refugees have returned to Serb-held areas.
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