Bosnian Croats feel squeezed in Muslim-shared entity

MOSTAR (Bosnia-Hercegovina), Apr 29 (AFP): More than 15 years since the end of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, Muslims and Croats still avoid each other in this picturesque southern town. They were allies against the Serbs during most of the conflict, but also fought each other for a period, notably in the region around Mostar. Under the Dayton settlement they were forced into an autonomous but shared federation, with the Serbs having their own entity, the Republika Srpska. Now demands are building among Croats to be given their own autonomy amid feelings that the majority Muslims are squeezing them out of a voice. Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Covic demanded Tuesday that Bosnia be split into three instead of two with a separate entity for each of the ethnic groups. Covic was appointed the acting president of a Croat people's assembly after a meeting of some 500 representatives from a dozen Bosnian Croat parties, including his own Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) and the HDZ 1990 in Mostar. The two parties are boycotting the Muslim-Croat Federation's government, formed in March, which excluded their representatives. Two minor Croat parties have joined the government of the federation but the main parties say they won 90 per cent of Bosnian Croats' votes in last October's elections and are their only legitimate representatives. Feeling runs highest in the southern Hercegovina region where Croats are the main ethnic group. "We have to build our autonomy. We must have our institutions to prevent others deciding for us and we have to be represented by people who are genuinely ours," said Milenko Nisic, a 44-year- old salesman from Mostar. "I don't accept others imposing my representatives on me in joint institutions," protested dentist Tonci Mikulicic. He said a "separate entity is a dream of all Bosnian Croats." "If two other peoples, Serbs and Muslims, can have their own entity, why can't we have one?" Bosnian Croat politicians and media regularly claim that their community is marginalised by the Muslims, whom they accuse of having "centralist goals." "Before the war, within (former) Yugoslavia, the Serbs dominated. Now, the Muslims are. I would like this to end and I believe that a Croat entity could be a solution," a teacher who requested anonymity said. The head of the Catholic Church in Bosnia, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, alleged an "ethnic cleansing" of the Croat community.