YU SECRET DOCUMENT ON JASENOVAC VICTIMS TO BE PUBLISHED IN ZURICH

( Editorial: --> 4074 ) SARAJEVO, 26 June (Hina) - A document containing the actual number of victims in the Ustasha concentration camps of Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska - closely guarded as a "state secret" for 38 years in the former Yugoslavia - will be published in a reprint by the Bosniak Institute in Zurich, the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjenje" announced on Friday. The 1,180 page-long book lists by name all the victims killed during World War II in Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska, together with their nationality, age and place of origin. Serbs account for the majority of victims - about 40 per cent, "Oslobodjenje" said. A group of experts with the Bosniak Institute have analysed the list and their conclusions will be published in a foreword. The original study, printed in only two copies and guarded in a vault of the Belgrade State Archives, was made by several groups of experts attached to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, who found the names of victims by perusing Allied archives given to Yugoslavia as well as Ustasha and German documents seized during the war, "Oslobodjenje" said. The paper adds: "At the same time, expert groups in cooperation with the secret police searched every settlement of the former Yugoslavia for the names of all internees of those camps to discover their fate - whether they survived or not." The total number of victims does not exceed 70,000 which is 10 times less than the number the Yugoslav authorities bandied about as official for decades, "Oslobodjenje" said. "This radical review of the number of victims does not diminish the gravity of the Ustasha crimes but can help prevent the victims being abused to achieve petty political aims," the article said. According to "Oslobodjenje", the Bosniak Institute acquired the original study via unknown channels in other countries. "Oslobodjenje" was not able to confirm the publication with the founder of the Bosniak Institute, Adil Zulfikarpasic, but quoted a "reliable source". (hina) jn as/bag +mbr 262137 MET jun 98