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Croats indicted for war crimes

Croatian papers
How Croatian newspapers reported Milosevic's extradition  


ZAGREB, Croatia -- Arrest warrants for two Croat war crimes suspects have been issued by the United Nations war crimes court, it was revealed on Friday.

But U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Croatian authorities had yet to act on the warrants, which she said her office had delivered along with two sealed indictments a month ago.

Speaking after talks with Prime Minister Ivica Racan in the Croatian capital, she said: "Mr Racan has objected to the indictments in written form and I came today to explain why I had to reject his objection.

"I insist that the Croatian government proceed with the implementation of the arrest warrants."

Neither Del Ponte nor Racan gave the names of those charged in the sealed indictments.

Racan reaffirmed Croatia's commitment to co-operating with the international court but stopped short of clearly saying the two Croats would be extradited, the Associated Press reported.

He was quoted as saying: "We are obliged to respect The Hague (U.N. war crimes tribunal) We will most certainly do anything in our power to facilitate cooperation with The Hague."

There has been speculation in Croatian newspapers that indictments were imminent against at least two Croatian army generals who took part in the 1991-95 war against local Serb rebels.

The conflict erupted when the country's Serbs, backed by the Yugoslav army, rebelled against Croatia's 1991 secession from the former Yugoslavia.

Tribunal prosecutors have been investigating the deaths of hundreds of Serbs following Zagreb's 1995 offensive to recapture lands seized by Serb rebels during 1991.

Croatia has not turned over any political or military leaders before now saying it would be politically dangerous to bring indictments against Croats before the main Serb war criminals were arrested.

On Thursday, it was announced that nine Serb and Croat war crimes suspects had been arrested by Croat authorities.

The arrests come after the extradition to The Hague of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula told Reuters: "Milosevic's extradition to The Hague is a strong impetus not only for Yugoslavia to carry on the process of democratisation, but also a signal to other countries in the region... with a serious pro-European agenda.

"You may be assured the government of Croatia will fulfil its international commitments."

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica criticised Croatia on Thursday for arresting the Serbs on genocide charges and described the move as political persecution.

A statement from Kostunica's office said it was particularly worrying that such arrests often coincided with the visits of representatives of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Reuters reported.

But prime minister Racan said the visit on Friday of Del Ponte had not prompted the arrests.

Tribunal prosecutors have been investigating the slayings of hundreds of Serbs following Zagreb's 1995 offensive to recapture lands seized by Serb rebels during the 1991 six-month war.






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• Croatian Government
• Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) (in Croatian)

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