CROATIA TREATS IRAQI CHILDREN

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001515 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID IZ HR HR SUBJECT: CROATIA TREATS IRAQI CHILDREN ¶1. (U) Seven seriously ill Iraqi children arrived in Zagreb on August 26 for medical treatment unavailable in Iraq. The Government of Croatia will cover transportation costs as well as all expenses for the children and their accompanying escorts while in Croatia. Responding to press queries, Deputy Prime Minister Andrea Hebrang said that this humanitarian assistance was not being given as "compensation" for Croatia not sending military troops to Iraq. ¶2. (U) Minister of Science and Technology Dragan Primorac publicly praised the role of the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb for facilitating the logistics for this humanitarian effort. In particular, USAID Zagreb coordinated with counterparts at AmEmbassy Baghdad to keep snafus on flight and ground transportation from delaying this effort. ¶3. (U) Six Iraqi doctors who arrived on the same flight will stay in Zagreb for training in forensic psychiatry and forensic pathology. Minister Primorac, himself a respected expert in forensic medicine, told the press that Croatia will train on DNA methods of identifying victims in mass graves. FRANK NNNN