ICRC PRESENTS 1997 ACTION PLAN TO CROATIAN GOVERNMENT

ZAGREB, Dec 4 (Hina) - The newly-appointed head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) mission to Croatia, Isabelle Butticaz, met Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Kostovic in Zagreb on Wednesday and presented the ICRC's plan of action for the next year. The ICRC, in cooperation with the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, helps in the protection of the endangered population in the areas of central Croatia liberated by the Croatian army in the summer of 1995 and in the UN-administered Danube river region of eastern Croatia, the two officials said. The ICRC aid programme currently covers about 35,000 people. Butticaz and Kostovic also discussed the continuation of searching for missing persons and specific cases which the Croatian government had discussed with Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav authorities. (hina) vm 041907 MET dec 96