The top international envoy in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Carlos Westendorp, has said his main priority for next year will be the return of refugees to their homes.

After briefing members of the United Nations Security Council, Mr Westendorp said that only about half of the fifty-thousand refugees expected to return during 1998 had gone back to their pre-war homes.

He blamed the slow progress on the lack of safety in entities where the police forces were not democratic and multi-ethnic, and the judges untrustworthy.

Mr Westendorp asked the Council to increase the size of the international police force in Bosnia to streamline the training of local police.