Croatian President Urges Resolution to Issue of War Missing

The fate of hundreds of people who went missing during the 1991-95 war between Serbia and Croatia must be addressed before both countries can normalize relations, visiting Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said Wednesday.

"The problem of missing persons is a major one both in moral and legal terms," Josipovic told reporters on his first visit to Serbia since last year's election of conservative President Tomislav Nikolic.

"Finding a solution to this problem is a precondition for full normalization of relations between our two countries," he said.

Josipovic said the fate of some 1,689 people -- 953 Croats and 736 Serbs -- was still unknown.

"If a solution to some problems, primarily the missing persons issue, is found, there would be more space to consider withdrawal of complaints," he said. He was referring to charges of genocide Belgrade and Zagreb have filed against each other before the International Court of Justice.

Founded in 1945, the ICJ is the United Nations' highest court.

In November 2008, The Hague-based court ruled it had a jurisdiction to consider Croatia's 1999 genocide complaint against Belgrade, blaming it for ethnic cleansing committed during the 1991-1995 war.

The conflict which left 20,000 dead, broke out after Croatia proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia, a move its minority Serbs, backed by Belgrade, did not recognize.

In response to Croatia's complaint, in January 2010, Serbia filed a suit against Zagreb, blaming it for genocide against the Serbs during the conflict.