PRESIDENT TUDJMAN VISITS CROATIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Hina) - Croatia's President Franjo Tudjman on Thursday received a newly-elected member of the American Congress, Denis Kuchinich, a former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, where many Croats live. The reception was held at the Croatian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Kuchinich conveyed to President Tudjman the best wishes of the Croatian community in Cleveland for his speedy recuperation and long life. We appreciate and thank you for all your efforts in the struggle for peace in the world, Kuchinich said and voiced a hope that he would soon visit Croatia, in his capacity as an American Congress member. President Tudjman invited Mr. Kuchinich to visit Croatia, saying that "you will see how Croatia is beautiful." Tudjman also received Croatia's Ambassador to the United Nations, Mario Nobilo, a member of the Croatian Parliament, Ivan Nogalo, the vice president of the Croatian national federation in America, Slavko Jambrusic, and academicians Dalibor Brozovic and Radoslav Katicic. President Tudjman was warmly welcomed by the Croatian Embassy staff. Later on, Tudjman received a copy of the first English- language edition of his book, "The Horrors of War". This was the President's first public appearance since his arrival last week for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The book was presented to the President by David Rivkin of the New York-based Evans publishing house which had published the book in 6,000 copies. The foreword was written by the former US Ambassador to the Vatican, Thomas Melady. I am honoured to have written the foreword to your book, Melady said. It is important that the whole world gets acquainted with Croatian history. Not just its recent history and the suffering at the time of World War Two and under Communism, but also the history of the 18th and 19th centuries, he added. Melady noted that Western countries and the United States had been cut off for years from what was happening in Croatia. President Tudjman said that during his study of general history and philosphy and on the basis of his personal experience, he had accepted two ideas, that in the life of a man or a nation nothing happened by accident, everything had its deep causes. The other idea, which was deeply rooted in the people and reflected philosphical wisdom, was that any evil in the life of a man or a nation was not just for the sake of evil. Speaking of the reasons for the publication of his book in the English translation, Tudjman said that the book, like Croatian history, had been exposed to many misinterpretations. I can note with pleasure that prominent American professors of Jewish descent have written that the book does not contain anything anti-Semitic. On the contrary, they've said that it is deeply imbued with objective deliberations about world, Jewish and Croatian history, Tudjman said. I think that many Jewish organizations, including B'Nai B'Rith which sent me a letter yesterday, are of the same opinion and therefore I am glad that this book has finally appeared despite obstacles, he added. Tudjman said that the preparation of the English edition had taken seven years. This edition was the seventh edition of the book in the Croatian and other languages, he said. The ceremony at the Croatian Embassy, covered by Croatian and US journalists and TV crews, was attended by Tudjman's wife and son, Ankica and Miroslav, the ambassadors to Washington and the UN, Miomir Zuzul and Mario Nobilo, and the President's personal doctors, Branimir Jaksic and Stjepan Kranjcevic. (hina) mš vm mm 212214 MET nov 96