CROATIAN GOVT REPS MEET FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS

( Editorial: --> 5962 ) ZAGREB, July 6 (Hina) - Croatian government representatives on Monday informed the families of missing Croatian defenders about the course of implementation of the national identification programme. Croatian Vice Premier Ivica Kostovic told reporters after the meeting that 1,870 persons were still registered as missing. Of that number, 367 persons are from Sisak-Moslavina County and one half of that number are persons from Banovina (region liberated in summer 1995). About 1,000 persons were exhumed and identified in the Vukovar area with considerable effort, Kostovic said adding that preparations for the second round of identification in Banovina, Pakrac (Sisak- Moslavina County), Kupres (south-west Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Posavina (northern Bosnia) had been completed. The list of missing persons from the Kupres area includes another 12 persons, Kostovic said. The Government has secured funds for the whole identification programme including exhumation, identification and dignified burial of all defenders and civilians, Kostovic said. Funds for the expansion of the programme have also been secured, he added. Exhumations were being carried out on every potential burial site, following a suggestion by the Interior Ministry, Kostovic said. Difficulties are encountered on some locations and five people have been killed while removing mines. The exhumation in boggy areas cannot be carried out with the same speed and methods as in other areas and some remains were difficult to identify because they had been buried for almost seven years, Kostovic said. The city of Zagreb has secured a location where unidentified remains will be temporarily buried. Their identification will be performed later with new samples and new methods, Kostovic said. Asked about the request for the hand-over of remains of persons killed in Serbian detention camps, Kostovic said that Croatia had requested a meeting with the Yugoslav commission at which this issue should be dealt with. This is one of Croatia's most important requests towards Belgrade but so far no data has been obtained, Kostovic said. Marica Macek, representative of the association "Croatian Phoenix", recalled that since 1993, Belgrade had returned 863 official Croatian requests, claiming it was not authorised for those cases since those people went missing on the territory of the Croatian Serb rebel "Krajina" region. For the seventh year we have no information on where our sons are buried while Serbs are returning, "most probably those who participated in actions against Croatia and the killing of our children," Macek said. "We are not satisfied with the speed of exhumations and identifications that have been carried out so far," Macek said adding the association would demand that the number of exhumation and identification teams be increased. Today's talks were also attended by the president of the Commission for Missing and Imprisoned, Lieutenant Ivan Grujic, and the Minister of Croatian Defenders, Juraj Njavro. (hina) jn rml 062028 MET jul 98