Police back Croat separatists

Police join army in supporting Croat separatists

SARAJEVO, Croatia -- Leading police officers in Bosnia's Mostar region are giving their backing to Croat separatists.

They say they do not recognize the newly-elected government of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation and instead they have pledged support for a separate Croat administration.

The move announced in Mostar, the southern heartland of Bosnian Croat nationalism, was the latest separatist action by Croat nationalists.

The nationalists want to break away from the joint federation with Muslims and form a self-rule government.

Some 8,000 Croat officers are reported to have left the joint Croat-Muslim army in the last week in response to a call by the Croat National Congress (HNS).

The Cantonal Interior Minister and 19 senior ministry officials issued a statement saying: "We pledge our full support to the Croat National Assembly and the decisions and conclusions it adopted at its session held in Mostar on March 3, 2001."

It said they considered the federation government anti-constitutional and illegitimate, since it excluded Croat deputies of the nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

"We refuse to accept and approve that government as such," the statement said.

The U.N. mission which has overseen the restructuring of the police force since Bosnia's 1992-5 war has repeatedly warned Croat officers not to get involved in politics if they want to keep their jobs.

"We certainly believe that this statement was a breach of police code of conduct, U.N. spokesman Douglas Coffman told a news conference.

UNMIBH (U.N. Mission in Bosnia) is now reviewing what sanctions it will impose, including the possible de-authorisation of those officers who signed the letter,"

The Interior Ministry of the Muslim-Croat federation, employs 12,716 police divided between Muslims and Croats roughly in a 70-30 ratio. There are 923 Croats among some 1,600 police in the Mostar region.

The federation was formed in 1994 after the Muslim-Croat conflict of 1993-4 and was confirmed by the 1995 Dayton agreement which ended the war and also created a Serb republic.

Newly-elected Croat presidency member Jozo Krizanovic removed two Bosnian Croat generals on Monday for refusing to recognise the authority of new federation defence minister and calling on other officers to defy his decisions.

Federation Defence Minister Mijo Anic set a Tuesday afternoon deadline for Croat army officers to re-register with the ministry. A deadline for the re-registration of soldiers expires on Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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