CROATIA ADMITS DEATHS OF CIVILIAN SERBS

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Croatia acknowledged Monday that at least

20 Serb civilians were killed in cross-fire during an offensive to

recapture Serb-held territory three weeks ago.

It was the first time Croatia acknowledged civilian deaths in

the May 1-2 offensive. On Sunday, a U.N. source told The Associated

Press that the United Nations was investigating two suspected mass

graves on recaptured land.

Croatian Vice President Ivica Kostovic said in a statement

Monday that Croatian authorities have found 188 bodies on the

territory, known as western Slavonia.

The statement, released by the Croatian state news agency, said

127 of the bodies have been identified, including 20 civilians

killed in cross-fire. Another 34 of the dead might have been

civilians, the statement said.

Kostovic said the bodies have been buried in several cemeteries.

More specific information about the dead can be released only to

their families, he said.

A U.N. source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday

that U.N. experts were investigating two suspected mass graves in

cemeteries of Okucani and nearby Vrbovljani in western Slavonia.

They saw areas of land, about 100 square yards in each cemetery,

with freshly dug earth and bulldozer tracks, the source said.

Kostovic's statement did not address the suspected graves.

President Franjo Tudjman's office did not return seven telephone

calls asking for comment.

The U.N. Special Human Rights Envoy, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, is to

arrive in Croatia this week and will press the government for

answers, the U.N. source said.

Local Serbs say about 9,000 Serbs fled to neighboring Bosnia

during the two-day offensive. The U.N. High Commissioner for

Refugees estimates another 5,000 initially remained behind. Many of

them began leaving days later.

Serbs claim that several thousand other people are unaccounted

for.

Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak told parliament earlier

this month that about 450 Serb soldiers were killed in the

offensive. Kostovic's statement did not explain the discrepancy

between its figures and those given earlier by Susak.

No widespread human rights abuses have been confirmed in western

Slavonia. European Union monitors, the U.N. High Commissioner for

Refugees and the Red Cross were initially kept out of the area, but

their access gradually has been restored.