ARCHIVES ON NDH APPARENTLY DESTROYED DURING BELGRADE BOMBING

BELGRADE, May 22 (Hina) - The Yugoslav Army general staff on Tuesday officially confirmed that Belgrade's military and historical institute archive, containing material on the Independent State of Croatia (NDH 1941-1945), "suffered extensive damage" during NATO's air attack in 1999. The statement reads that during the shelling of the Yugoslav Defence Ministry building, where the archive was, material on Italian and German occupation from 1941 to 1945 and were "partially destroyed, and, for the most part, material on the NDH. At negotiations on the succession of the former Yugoslavia, states comprising the former Yugoslav federation demanded of the Yugoslav government to submit original archive material relating to the country seeking the material. The Yugoslav side refused the suggestion and offered copies of the documentation. Other countries, especially Croatia, keep insisting on the original documents, in this case pertaining to the NDH, at negotiations on succession, currently taking place in Vienna. (hina) lml sb