FAMILIES OF MISSING PERSONS DEMAND ACCELERATION OF IDENTIFICATION ( Editorial: --> 0578 )

( Editorial: --> 0578 ) ZAGREB, 13 Nov (Hina) - The Association of Families of Imprisoned and Missing Croatian Soldiers asked international humanitarian and political organisations to help them in their search for missing and imprisoned persons at a press conference held in Zagreb on Thursday. The Association's representatives told reporters they supported the establishment of an expert team which would draw up a national project on exhumation and identification of Homeland War victims, as well as the establishment of a centre for DNA identification. The Association asked the Government to finance the project. Before the press conference, the Association held a meeting with representatives of the Government, Parliament and non-government organisations. The Association's President, Ljubica Butula, demanded that the process of exhumation and identification of victims be accelerated. She recalled that the Yugoslav side had promised to hand over 1,096 protocols on missing persons. So far, only 700 protocols have been handed over - 367 of them referring to identified and 333 to unidentified victims, Butula said. Dr Davor Strinovic of the Institute for Forensic Medicine told the representatives of the families of missing persons that the process of identification could not be accelerated due to a lack of medical documentation. The percentage of identified victims in Croatia is much higher than elsewhere in the world, Strinovic said. According to him, out of all remains exhumed in Croatia, 80% have been identified, while the percentage of identified victims in the world is between 10% and 20%. (hina) jn rm 131719 MET nov 97