BOSNIAN SERB PARTY OFFICIAL SAYS MUSLIM LEADER'S REMARK "POLITICALLY DAMAGING"
SRNA - March 1, 2003

Banja Luka, 1 March: Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency Muslim or Bosniak member Sulejman Tihic's statement that "the independence of Bosnia-Hercegovina was the only just solution" and was unavoidable as the Serb Democratic Party SDS had done everything to destabilize Bosnia-Hercegovina, was "politically damaging", according to SDS spokesman Dusan Stojicic.

"This announcement is politically damaging for the future of Bosnia-Hercegovina as defined by the Dayton Agreement," Stojicic told SRNA. He added that from the historical point of view, from what actually happened at the beginning of the 1990s, this was "totally unacceptable".

He pointed out that the then chairman of the Party of Democratic Action SDA , Alija Izetbegovic, rejected Cutileiro's plan which offered a realistic solution to the internal organization of Bosnia-Hercegovina, thus avoiding war.

"Unfortunately this was not done and the full responsibility for this lies with Izetbegovic and the SDA," Stojicic concluded.

He also pointed out that the referendum "for the independence" of Bosnia-Hercegovina was for the Serb nation illegitimate and illegal, which was why Serbs had failed to turn out to vote.

Stojicic said the SDS was "proud, especially of its national policy at the time, and which it was still pursuing".

He reiterated that the Bosnian Serb Republic "due to the struggle of the Serb nation, was the only guarantee for the survival and future of the Serb nation".

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1421 gmt 1 Mar 03

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