MINISTRY OFFICIALS, FAMILIES OF MISSING HOLD MEETING

VUKOVAR, Feb 10 (Hina) - Representatives of the Vukovar Association of the Families of Missing and Abducted Persons and the Department for Missing and Imprisoned Persons of the Ministry of Family and War Veterans' Affairs and Inter-Generation Solidarity, led by Colonel Ivan Grujic, met in Borovo Naselje outside Vukovar on Tuesday to discuss missing persons of Serb nationality, and exhumation and identification.#L# The meeting was attended by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Commission for Missing Persons from Sarajevo, the OSCE, the Joint Council of (Serb-majority) Municipalities, the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), and members of the families of missing persons. The Association presented data collected by the Belgrade-based "Veritas" centre, which say that 2,996 Serbs went missing in Croatia. Grujic said that some 1,000 citizens were killed in the Croatian military-police operations "Flash" and "Storm". So far, the bodies of 499 people killed in the two operations have been exhumed and 199 have been identified, he said. Last year exhumations in Serbia and Montenegro were discontinued, with some 200 persons having been exhumed so far, including some persons who were on the list of missing and imprisoned persons of the former Croatian government's Office for Missing and Imprisoned Persons. Grujic said that the newly appointed chairman of the Commission for Missing and Imprisoned Persons of Serbia and Montenegro had assured him that exhumations in his country would resume at the end of March. According to data from the Department for Missing and Imprisoned Persons of the Ministry of Family and War Veterans Affairs and Inter-Generation Solidarity, Croatia is still looking for 1,233 people who went missing in 1991 and 1992 and another 600 people who went missing in the 1995 "Flash" and "Storm" operations. (Hina) rml sb