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Croatia vows to

retake last Serb

enclave soon

ZAGREB: Croatia vowed on Saturday to regain the last rebel Serb enclave on its territory within months either through negotiations or a new military offensive.

"We are faced with the task of liberating ... Eastern Slavonia," President Franjo Tudjman told Croatian radio. "We will quite certainly do this in the coming months either by peaceful means or by a new (military offensive) Storm."

The Croatian army crushed rebel Serbs and recaptured a large swathe of territory with "Operation Storm" earlier this month in its biggest victory since Serbs revolted in 1991 and proclaimed their own Krajina state.

Eastern Slavonia, which borders on Serbia proper, is now the last rebel Serb enclave. It is a fertile and oil-rich region from which thousands of Croats were expelled in 1991, following the Serb secession.

Tudjman spoke hours before a U.N.-mediated ceasefire between Croat and Serb forces in Eastern Slavonia was to take effect on Saturday.

He addressed a crowd gathered at Zagreb's main railway station to see the first Croat train to ride through the former Serb Krajina "capital' Knin, carrying senior Croat officials on a trip confirming Zagreb's newly established rule over the region.

Tudjman condemned all incidents, reported by the United Nations, of arson and looting of Serb houses. He called on the Croats to "refrain from vengeful actions" against the Serbs and their property.

But he repeated that the parts of the country still under Serb control would be "liberated soon, one way or another".

Shortly after "Operaton Storm", Croatia hinted it might use force to retake Eastern Slavonia if negotiations or "peaceful reintegration' failed. The United Nations reported troop buildups and skirmishes along the confrontation lines there.

U.N. observers attributed the new tensions in Eastern Slavonia to a Croatian army buildup nearby, resembling the one before the blitz which reconquered the Krajina in four days.

Saturday's ceasefire provides little relief for the troubled area as previous ceasefires rarely held and peace talks, if they took place at all, hit against the intransigence of both sides.

Diplomats have asked Zagreb to exercise restraint, fearing that a Croatian move against the area could lead to a larger clash between Croatia and Serbia.-Reuter