Croatian opposition attacks government

Norac supporters held two days of protests

SPLIT, Croatia -- A massive rally in support of a former Croatian general suspected of war crimes has turned into an opposition call for the government to stand down.

More than 100,000 people gathered in the port city of Split on Sunday in protest at an investigation into Mirko Norac's involvement in a 1991 massacre of Serb civilians in the city of Gospic.

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Peace in the Balkans

He has not been charged and remains at large, but the investigation which began last week sparked protests by army veterans of Croatia's 1991 war for independence and their supporters.

The head of the main opposition party HDZ, Ivo Sanader, said the government had the option of stepping down and calling an election.

He told the crowd the government could also "organise its own counter-protest, in which case we shall all go to Zagreb. There is also a third option -- to abolish democracy -- but I would advise against it."

Norac, a 33-year-old retired general widely revered as a hero of Croatia's war against rebel Serbs, has been on the run from investigators since Wednesday, when he failed to show up in court to answer questions on the case.

Some protesters held pictures of Norac and banners declaring: "We all are Mirko Norac." He is regarded by many as a war hero.

People had been brought in by bus from across Croatia to Split, and another demonstration was being held in the eastern town of Osijek.

'Attack on authority'

Protesters signed a petition demanding an early election, immediate amnesty for all Croatian soldiers and suspension of cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal, which is investigating a number of atrocities committed by Croat troops.

Prime Minister Ivica Racan, due to leave on a three-day visit to Poland, reacted immediately. "This declaration is an attack on the authorities and we know the HDZ is behind it. This is hardly a way to help democracy," he said.

Sanader urged all "nationally aware parties" in the six-member ruling alliance to "leave the coalition when they find the time is right... which is either now or very soon."

Coalition leaders met on Sunday and said they were unified in condemning what they said was the manipulation of war veterans for political purposes.

"Fulfilling the demands in the declaration would lead the country into chaos with unforeseeable consequences," leader of the influential Social liberals Drazen Budisa said.

"The HDZ wants to destabilise the country and provoke a new election, or even climb to power without elections," Social Democrat Mato Arlovic said, referring to Sanader's appeal that parties shift allegiance from the ruling coalition to the right.

Appealing for calm, Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, the highest moral authority for the predominantly Roman Catholic Croats, urged demonstrators "to remember that problems cannot be solved by violence and threats."

The rally was the latest confrontation between the one-year-old pro-democracy government and its predecessor -- the nationalist party that ruled Croatia for nearly a decade under the late president, Franjo Tudjman.

Under Tudjman, Croatians were exclusively represented as victims in the Serb-Croat war of 1991 and many people resent the new government's attempts to shed light on possible atrocities committed against Serbs.

Tudjman's party was often accused of condoning Croat war crimes -- a notion that brought the country to the brink of international sanctions.

The new government has reversed that policy and has already opened several probes into Croat war crimes in Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia.

The issue has become the most serious challenge to date for the reformist coalition which ousted the HDZ last year after the death of Tudjman.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Croatians support former general
February 11, 2001
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February 10, 2001
Croats sought for war crimes talks
January 15, 2001

Croatian government

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