CRO., FRY WORKING GROUPS FOR MISSING, ABDUCTED MEET IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, July 20 (Hina) - Croatian and Yugoslav commissions ended in Zagreb on Thursday two-day talks on detained and missing persons, the Croatian government's Media and Public Relations Service said in a statement today. The talks addressed all open issues between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in connection with missing and abducted persons. Ivan Grujic headed the working group of the Croatian government's commission for detained and missing persons, while Maksim Korac headed that of the FRY government's commission for humanitarian issues and missing persons. The Croatian side reiterated its demand to see documentation on unidentified persons buried on FRY territory, in Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad, Belgrade, and Stajicevo, as well as for an unconditional delivery of the remains of persons being traced. Croatia also demanded to be notified about mass grave sites in the Banovina, western Slavonia, and Croatian Danube River Region areas. The government statement said the two working groups had difficult talks on the release of persons detained in FRY prisons on charges in connection with armed conflicts. According to the Croatian commission, there are at least seven such cases. The Croatian working group insisted on a consistent compliance with signed agreements which exclude from exchanges of prisoners persons accused and sentenced for war crimes, genocide, and the most serious breaches of international humanitarian law. The statement said there could be no talk of substantial progress, but the very fact that the two working groups had met after a 18- month break due to the Kosovo crisis opened possibilities for future work and concrete solutions for the fate of detained and missing persons. Croatia still has no knowledge of the fate of 1,598 persons. (hina) ha mm