CROATIAN PRESIDENT TUDJMAN RECEIVES BRITISH MINISTER HOGG

ZAGREB, Dec 23 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman received on Thursday Douglas Hogg, State Secretary at the British Foreign Office, said a statement issued by the Presidential Office. The talks focused on the latest round of negotiations in Geneva and Brussels. President Tudjman reiterated Croatia's views concerning a political solution to the conflict in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Asked about granting the Moslems access to the Adriatic Sea, President Tudjman replied that the Croats offered to the Moslems a free trade zone in the port of Ploce, construction of a port on the Neretva River and a free trade zone in the port of Rijeka. Ceding the port of Neum is out of question since partitioning of Croatian state territory cannot be tolerated, said President Tudjman. He recalled the findings of a Franco-German commission that a port could not be constructed at Neum. Speaking of a humanitarian convoy for Nova Bila, Minister Hogg said he was sorry about the death of a convoy driver, and expressed hope this tragedy would not put a stop to delivering of relief aid to Croats in central Bosnia. President Tudjman stressed the Croats allowed passage to all convoys in Bosnia, and that those obstructing aid convoys as well as those involved in pulling down of the old stone bridge in Mostar had been called to account. He added that the Bosnian Croats had disbanded all detention centres. President Tudjman pointed out that it was most important to put a stop to a Moslem offensive in central Bosnia and their attempts to seize parts of Croat provinces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Speaking of the UN Protected Areas, he said that efforts were being made to reintegrate them into the constitutional and legal system of Croatia in a peaceful way, but after exhausting all peaceful means, military steps would have to be taken. Minister Hogg said his government would do everything to press Serbia into accepting a proposed political solution to the UNPAs. He stressed the sanctions would not be lifted so long as a political settlement had been reached. 231501 MET dec 93