CROATIAN PRESIDENT TUDJMAN HOLDS TALKS WITH ROBERT DOLE

( Editorial: --> 5678 ) ZAGREB, Jan 19 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Monday received the chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons, Robert Dole. Dole is visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia and Croatia with associates, with the aim to force a resolution to the issue of persons gone missing in conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. President Tudjman voiced his full cooperation and to that effect gave orders to his associates, said Dole after the meeting. We empathise with the mothers, the wives and sisters of the missing, regardless of whether they are Serb, Croat or Moslem, the US senator said. They are not involved in politics, they are not interested in haggling and compromises, but simply want to know what happened to their husbands, fathers and sons, Dole pointed out. He added that during his talks with them he did not want to raise their expectations, as it was possible there would be no results at all. After visiting Sarajevo, Belgrade and Zagreb, Dole said all leaders he had held talks with promised to cooperate. According to Croatian vice premier Ivica Kostovic, who was present at the talks, "Dole promised to give the issue of missing persons the highest international attention and that he expects concrete results." "We pointed out issues in which Mister Dole may help us, for instance the issue of protocols and other data from Belgrade, and committed ourselves to, as soon as possible, settle all inquiries from families in Serbia," said Kostovic. He added Dole was acquainted with Croatia's trust restoration programme, which includes the tracing of missing persons. Kostovic said the Croatian Government's commission for detained and missing persons had granted permission for preliminary work for exhumations on new locations "with information we obtained over the past few months". "Milosevic promised Dole that he would submit 396 protocols on the missing by the end of the week," said Kostovic, adding all inquiries Serbian families may have will be answered unconditionally. (hina) ha jn 192230 MET jan 98