CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS YAD VASHEM

( Editorial: --> 2992 ) JERUSALEM, May 11 (Hina) - On behalf of the Croatian Government and with the deepest respect towards victims of the Holocaust, I express strong condemnation of the genocide of six million Jews, said Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center in Jerusalem on Monday. Following a tour of the Center, Granic read a special statement in front of the hall built in remembrance of the 1.5 million Jewish children killed during World War II. Yad Vashem recalls the biggest tragedy of the Jewish people in the history of mankind, said Granic adding that the Center "also represents an eternal warning that this kind of crime must not be repeated". On the foundations of its anti-fascism and love of freedom, the modern, democratic Croatia "most harshly condemns fascism, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism", Granic said. "As Government Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Croatia, a state built on the foundations of the anti-fascist struggle of the Croatian people, I express deep sympathy and condemnation because of the persecution, suffering and tragedy of Jews on the Croatian territory during the World War II Ustasha regime and Nazi occupation," Granic said. Granic wrote this statement into the Yad Vashem book of remembrance after which he was presented a letter from the Yad Vashem director, Mosha Sanbar. "The feelings expressed by the Croatian Government Vice Premier and Foreign Minister, Mate Granic, about the Croatian war crimes during the Holocaust, are of great significance," the letter reads. The Yad Vashem director further states some important issues which Croatia should resolve with the aim of improving bilateral relations with Israel. These are: elimination of anti-Semitic parts from all versions of a book by Franjo Tudjman, preservation of the Jasenovac concentration camp without changes in the memorial area, trial of Croatian war criminals, and "education of all Croats, especially the youth, about the holocaust crimes, by placing those crimes and the involvement of the Croatian people in their real, historical context". In the Yad Vashem Hall of Remembrance, where the names of Nazi death camps are engraved into the floor, Granic increased the eternal flame, and laid a wreath on his own behalf and on the behalf of the Croatian Government. (hina) mrb/rm 111456 MET may 98