CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS

ZAGREB, Aug 21 (Hina) - Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic on Wednesday received a delegation of associations of families of imprisoned and missing Croatian soldiers, "Croatian Phoenix" and "Vukovar Mothers", a Foreign Ministry statement said. Granic informed them about the progress of negotiations on the normalization of relations with Yugoslavia, particularly about the results of the Athens talks between Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic on the problem of imprisoned and missing persons. The guests were also informed about the progress of negotiations between the Croatian and Yugoslav government commissions for missing persons and about steps being taken to solve the issue. Granic said that the text of an agreement on normalizing relations with Yugoslavia contained a provision on the tracing of missing persons. He added that the signing of the agreement would speed up the resolution of this gravest humanitarian problem in Croatia, the statement said. (hina) vm 211630 MET aug 96