FAMILIES OF U.S. AND CROATIAN PLANE CRASH VICTIMS VISIT DUBROVNIK

DUBROVNIK, June 21 (Hina) - Families of 35 US and Croatian citizens who died in a plane crash near Dubrovnik last year paid a visit to this historical southern Adriatic town on Saturday to commemorate the tragic event. Twenty-six members of a US trade mission led by Trade Secretary Ron Brown, a six-member crew, a journalist and two Croatian citizens, press photographer Niksa Antonini and interpreter Dragica Lendic Bebek, died when their plane hit a mountainside in bad weather on April 3, 1996. Their families were welcomed in Dubrovnik's Sponza Palace by the Croatian government envoy, Tourism Minister Niko Bulic, Dubrovnik County Prefect Jure Buric, Dubrovnik Mayor Vido Bogdanovic and local government officials. After welcoming remarks by US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, Minister Bulic said: "All Croats and citizens of Croatia, and particularly residents of Dubrovnik, keep in their hearts the contribution the members of the US mission made by arriving in Croatia." "The US mission, whose aim was to strengthen the peace in Bosnia- Herzegovina and help Croatia recover from the war, will remain in the hearts of our people because it came at a time when we needed help and understanding," Bulic added. Speaking on behalf of the American families, Assistant Trade Secretary Marjory Searing thanked the Croatian officials for the reception. Afterwards, the guests toured Dubrovnik's historical nucleus and visited the Ronald Brown Memorial Gallery. A visit to St John hill, the site of the plane crash, was scheduled for Sunday. (hina) vm 211352 MET jun 97