"There has been no new information since yesterday. Americans have not yet given their answer, they consider the issue still open and we are waiting for the State Department to respond," Ljubicic said, adding that it was very difficult to predict the future course of events.
Ljubicic on Thursday confirmed that the ministry possessed reports which were still not officially confirmed on Croatian truck driver Mikulic being held in the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The ministry has been trying to check reports with the help of the Croatian Embassy in Washington and of the State Department.
"We have tried everything we could, many talks were held yesterday, but this is not up to us. The decision is exclusively in their jurisdiction and our possibilities are limited," Ljubicic said asking for more patience as "the Americans, too, need some time to examine the entire situation".
Yesterday reports appeared that Mikulic had been detained longer than it was previously stated. Ljubicic added that the ministry had been informed that he had gone missing several days ago.
When his disappearance was reported, we we got involved in the case, but I cannot say anything about the period before that, as his (Mikulic's) employer did not report anything, the ministry's official told Hina, adding that it was a friend of Mikulic who reported the truck driver's disappearance.
Since there has been no official confirmation on whether Mikulic is really being kept in the US prison, Ljubicic declined to answer whether it would be possible that the Americans had not informed anybody about Mikulic's arrest for almost a month.
Ljubicic also would not speculate on whether it could happen that the Americans were treating Mikulic as an enemy soldier as he had reportedly been nabbed while filming US bases and the route of his convoy.
Ljubicic went on to say that the ministry did not contact Mikulic's employer who had got his truck transferred back from Iraq, but failed to report that the driver had gone missing.
Regarding reports on another two Croatian drivers having been wounded in Iraq, the ministry's official said he had talked with the owner of the haulier company in question, and he told him that this was misinformation.
The Croatian Red Cross has joined in the search for the missing Croatian driver and contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross and the American Red Cross on this matter.
A representative of the Croatian Red Cross, Vera Plesa Golubovic, told Hina on Friday that this was done at the initiative of the Red Cross and that the family of the missing had not asked for any help.
If the Red Cross obtains any relevant information, it cannot notify the public unless the family allows it to do so.