CRO VICE PREMIER RECEIVES AMBASSADOR FERRARO

ZAGREB, April 1 (Hina) - Croatian Vice Premier Ivica Kostovic on Monday held talks with the head of the U.S. delegation to the UN Commission for human rights, Ambassador Geraldine Ferraro, about the status of human rights in Croatia and the issue of missing and detained persons. #L# They had talked about main issues with which the UN Commission was concerned, as were the issue of missing and detained persons, the repatriation of refugees and the liberation and exchange of war prisoners, Ferraro said after the talks. The Croatian Embassy to the UN, along with other embassies in Geneva, was preparing a resolution concerning missing persons, Kostovic said. "Croatia expects that it will be raised to the highest level of the UN, and that all sides in the peace time regime will make an effort to cooperate and resolve the issue of missing persons," Kostovic said. He added that the resolution was expected to become obligatory for all members, as well as Belgrade because there was a lot of information which could shed light on the whereabouts of missing persons. "It is certain that our further talks and negotiations with Belgrade will be a further mechanism through which we will find out their whereabouts," Kostovic said. Asked to what extent the representatives of international institutions were interested in the issue of missing persons, Kostovic said, "They are now very interested because Croatia has explained that overall peace and normalization of relations in the region depended on resolving the issue". All European countries and world powers had voiced to exert great pressure so that all prisoners would be freed, after which resolving the issue of missing persons would be initiated, Kostovic said, adding, "We can say that for the first time in the period after Dayton, conditions are ripe for resolving the issue of missing persons at the highest political level and with more force than ever." (hina) lm 011511 MET apr 96