VALEDICTION CEREMONY IN DUBROVNIK (MORE)

DUBROVNIK, Apr 6 (Hina) - A valediction ceremony in commemoration of the 35 victims of Wednesday's US plane crash near Dubrovnik was held at Dubrovnik airport on Saturday. The victims included US Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown, his associates, a group of US businessmen and two Croatian citizens, press photographer Niksa Antonini and translator Dragica Lendic- Bebek. The valediction ceremony was attended by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, US President Clinton's personal envoy Lory Fitz Pegado, the bereaved families, senior Croatian government officials, a Bosnian Federation delegation including Federation President Kresimir Zubak and Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic, and the US Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith. Offering his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and his sympathy and solidarity to US President Bill Clinton and the whole American nation, President Tudjman said the death of Ronald Brown and his associates "committed us to continue to deepen the friendship between the United States, Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina." "On behalf of the whole Croatian nation, moved with grief and pain at your tragic loss, I express a firm belief that the mission during which Ronald Brown and his associates lost their lives will not be interrupted by this tragic event," President Tudjman said. "Ronald Brown and his associates will be ever remembered with gratitude; may they have eternal glory," he concluded. In token of gratitude and remembrance, President Tudjman posthumously decorated Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown with the High Order of King Zvonimir. Other victims were also awarded high Croatian decorations. The decorations will be delivered to the victims' families by Croatian Prime Minister Nikica Valentic at a commemoration in Washington. Ambassador Galbraith expressed gratitude for the efforts put forth by the Croatian Government, police and military forces and IFOR units in the search and rescue operations carried out under most difficult conditions. "The US delegation led by Secretary Brown was trying to help people in this unsettled region to live decent, honest and ordinary lives which we Americans, as President Clinton said, to often take for granted," Galbraith said. "Today is Good Saturday. As Jesus said in his Speech on the Mountain, 'blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.' Blessed indeed are our friends and colleagues who lost their lives in the service of peace. All of us, Croats, Bosnians, Americans, members of other nations participating in the IFOR mission, can honour our colleagues and friends by continuing their work, putting in practice, the agreements which we signed in Dayton and eastern Slavonia, offering a promise of a better future to a people which has suffered so much in the past five years," Galbraith concluded. The Bishop of Dubrovnik Zelimir Puljic rendered a brief homily and blessed the victims' mortal remains. "Lord, do not let any of their plans and wishes be lost. Let what they greatly desired, believed in and worked for contribute to the greater good and blessing of the world; let their creative spirit live on in their children and the thoughts and consciences of their relatives and friends," Bishop Puljic said. (hina) as 061523 MET apr 96