HEAD OF BOSNIAN COMMISSION FOR MISSING PERSONS WRITES TO FAMILIES OF MISSING BUGOJNO CROATS

OF MISSING BUGOJNO CROATS LIVNO, July 5 (Hina) - Amor Masovic, the head of Bosnia-Herzegovina's state commission for missing people, sent a letter to families of 21 missing Bosnian Croats from Bugojno (central Bosnia), that were holding a protest rally in Livno on Saturday. The fate of 21 Bugojno Croats who were detained by Moslems during the Croat-Moslem conflict, has been unknown for 1,400 days. In his letter Masovic wrote "I assure you that the commission which I lead, is doing its best to establish the fate of all missing Bosnian citizens, regardless of their ethnic origins or faith. For a long time we have been tackling unsuccessfully the question of the fate of 21 missing Bugojno citizens." "Unfortunately, what is certain and what I have told families of (other missing persons) is that none of persons detained in 1992 and 1993 are alive and we shall face this truth sooner or later. If the worst has happened, we must seek and find at least the remains of victims in order that they might be buried in a dignified and civilised manner," Masovic wrote. At the end, he added that in Geneva he would soon meet a representative of the Croat party whom Masovic would propose how to try solve the problem of the missing Bugojno residents. (hina) mš 051852 MET jul 97