U.S. TALKS WILL ALSO TACKLE SPEEDY TRIAL AGAINST BH CROATS - GRANIC

( Editorial: --> 9142 ) WASHINGTON, July 22 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said on Wednesday he would open the issue of a speedy trial against a group of Bosnian Croats detained in The Hague since last year as part of his talks with representatives of the United States administration. "I will have the chance to say that Croatia has done a lot in view of cooperation, but also that we expect additional efforts on the U.S. part to step up the beginning of the trial according to earlier promises", Granic told reporters in Washington upon arrival for a three-day visit to the U.S. A group of ten Bosnian Croats last October voluntarily surrendered to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague following a promise of the U.S. administration to assist the tribunal in holding a speedy trial against all the accused, especially against those who surrendered of their own will. According to their sources, the U.S. media at the time reported that the trials against the Bosnian Croats would start within five months. Croatia will also convey that it expects indictments "for crimes committed against Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina, since no one has yet been sentenced for any mass crime or act against civilians", the Foreign Minister said today. The Croatian-American talks will also focus on conditions for Croatia's access into Partnership for Peace, bilateral cooperation, and Croatia's democratic development. Granic also expects talks on the media, especially the privatisation of television, and Croatia's current electoral law. Earlier this month U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said it was necessary to change Croatia's current electoral legislature in order to enable all sides to partake in the elections under equal conditions. Asked if the Croatian Government was drafting a bill for the cancellation of lists for the Diaspora, Granic said that "no details whatsoever were debated by any (party) body" so far. "We are now analysing other European models", he said. The Foreign Minister also said he expected the talks in the States would also tackle the situation in Bosnia. The Croatian Government is contrary to any revision of the Dayton peace agreement the possibility of which was suggested by the Muslim leadership, he emphasised. "We are especially sensitive about revisions of the school system, culture and the army", Granic said. "Croatia will do everything for the Dayton agreement to be really implemented, as it is the only guarantee of the Croats' survival in Bosnia", he said. Granic, who arrived in the U.S. yesterday afternoon, will hold talks with Albright, U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard and Benjamin Gilman, top Foreign Affairs Committee official in the House of Representatives at the Congress. (hina) ha 221113 MET jul 98