CITIZENS OF DISPUTED BOSNIAN TOWN WAIT FOR A FINAL DECISION, 1999-02-17 (photo)

A refugee woman hangs out freshly-washed laundry on a cold winter day February 16 on the federation side of the boundary line between Bosnia's two autonomous territories near the disputed northern town of Brcko. She is among thousands of expelled Brcko Moslem and Croat citizens waiting at the outskirts of town for the decision which would return them to their pre-war homes. The status of Brcko, claimed by both Bosnia's entities, the Moslem-Croat federation and the Serb republic, is to be decided by the international arbitrator Roberts Owen next moth. The hearings of both parties before the arbitration tribunal in Vienna ended on Tuesday. DSS/WS