INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MISSING PERSONS ENDS MEETINGS

ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - Croatian and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) had made certain progress in their relations after Yugoslavia handed about 500 dossiers with medical and other kind of information on the mortal remains of people killed in the end 199 in Vukovar, and it pledged to deliver all other files, a former US Secretary of State and the president of the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP), Cyrus Vance, said at a news conference in Zagreb on Friday evening. The ICMP held two meetings in Zagreb's Sheraton hotel on Friday: one with government officials of Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina and FRY, and the other with families of missing persons from those countries. Vance described as sincere and open the meeting with the three countries' representatives, which had focused on reasons for a slow process in the search for missing people. A senior political advisor to the ICMP, Mark Steinberg, said the session was purposeful and helpful, but added that problems that divided two sides had cropped up at it as well. They had discussed the issue of "hidden detainees", people about whom rumours had been spread that they were in detention but with no official evidence on that. Officials of all governments resolutely declared that they did not hold such prisoners, Steinberg said and added that they had supported a proposal that there might be unannounced international controls to check whether their claims were true. Steinberg said a great step forward would be done if the governments signed an official agreement on the matter. The second problem referred to the unearthing of mass graves in the (Croat-Moslem) Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb entity. The ICMP offered help in de-mining areas around graves provided that the two sides may agree on priorities in exhumations. However, they had not managed to agree on the issue at Friday's meeting, but they agreed on holding a new meeting which would discuss Haris Silajdzic's proposal that all parties could have free access to graves, Steinberg told the conference. Asked about the search for missing persons in the Croatian Danubian area after the completion of peaceful reintegration of the area, he replied that Croatian and Yugoslav governments expressed support to continuation of the work of a local commission that was currently working under UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES). A member of the ICMP and the International Red Cross (ICRC) president, Cornelio Sommaruga, responded to questions of journalists about the exact number of missing persons. According to ICRC figures, Croatia has submitted 3,458 official requests for search for missing persons, and 2,704 of them have not been solved yet. Of 3,458 requests, 1,570 files refer only to Vukovar. The fate of 278 people who went missing after the fall of the town had been established so far, Sommaruga said. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, families have submitted a total of 18,985 requests for the search for missing persons. Bosnian Serb authorities have received 13,437 requests and Moslem officials have been asked for solving 1,496 cases of missing persons whereas the Bosnian Croat side has been asked to answer to 1,004 requests. But, the ICMP will receive another 2,959 requests for the search for missing persons at the next meeting. Since the beginning of the search process last year, only 1,085 requests had been solved, Sommaruga added. The Yugoslav side has submitted 281 requests, out of which 211 have not been solved yet, Besides, 834 requests have been submitted by families that used to live in Croatian areas liberated in summer 1995, and 796 of them have not been solved. Asked how much they (Vance and another member of the ICMP, Lord Carrington) could believe in their success in this humanitarian action, as they had faced failure several years before in the region when they had acted as political factors, Vance replied both of them had worked hard at the time and given their best, but it had been really extremely difficult. Responsibility (for what has happened here) lied with peoples who live here rather than on those who tried to resolve problems, the British lord replied and added that the United Nations, the European Union and the United States had made mistakes, but the situation should be and was different now. Steinberg paid credit to families for their appropriate behaviour although they experienced strong emotions to which they had right, and Sommaruga agreed with him. Vance said he had been present at many meeting but this one was best. The ICMP members were a former British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, the OSCE National Minorities High Commissioner, Max van der Stoel, a former Pakistani Foreign Minister Yakub-Khar, besides Vance and Sommaruga. A Croatian Vice Premier, Ivica Kostovic, attended the Zagreb meeting on behalf of the Croatian Government; the head of the FRY state commission for missing persons, Pavle Todorovic represented the Yugoslav government; Bosnia-Herzegovina's Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic was on behalf of Bosnian Croat; a co-chairman of Bosnia's Ministerial Council, Haris Silajdzic, attended the gathering on behalf of Bosnian Moslems and Dragan Kalinic, who is the speaker of Bosnian Serb assembly, represented Bosnian Serbs. (hina) jn mš 220001 MET mar 97