Galbraith said that Martic, by refusing a peace plan in the spring of 1995, gave Croatia an excuse to retake the Serb-occupied areas of the country by military action.
Galbraith, who served as ambassador to Zagreb from 1993 to 1998, described his involvement in the peace process and numerous meetings with Croatian president Franjo Tudjman and Croatian officials, as well as those with the accused and Milan Babic, another Serb leader who recently committed suicide in the ICTY detention centre.
Together with Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin, Galbraith mediated talks on a political settlement in Croatia. He said that the Serbs were playing games and that Martic, who at that time held the post of president of the self-proclaimed Serb statelet in Croatia, the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK), did not support the peace process and the proposed peace plan known as Z-4, which provided for broad autonomy for the RSK, but wanted it to become either a part of Serbia or an independent state.
Babic, who at that time served as RSK foreign minister, agreed to consider the Z-4 plan as late as March 1995, while Martic refused even to take the document into his hands, the witness said.
Galbraith said he had warned Martic that his refusal of the peace plan would have disastrous consequences for the RSK and asked him to enter into negotiations, but Martic, ignorant of international politics and diplomacy, would not listen.
Martic was Franjo Tudjman's best friend because he gave him an excuse for Operation Storm, which crushed the Serb rebellion in central Croatia in the summer of 1995, and for efforts to ensure that there are no more Serbs in Croatia. In my opinion, he was a man of limited abilities and limited intelligence. He refused a deal that would have made it possible for the Serbs to stay and would have given them large autonomy, the witness said.
Asked by the presiding judge about the position of the United States on Operation Storm, Galbraith said they did not have any position on whether the operation should be carried out or not.
The US did not feel it could tell the Croats not to do it. We decided we would not give either the red or the green light, or any hint regarding that offensive, Galbraith said.
I warned Tudjman that they had to protect the Serb civilians and UN peacekeepers in RSK territory, he added.
Galbraith also said that at a meeting that took place on 24 October 1994 Martic announced that he would fire missiles on Zagreb if the situation worsened and that he would inform Galbraith in advance so he could seek shelter.
I told him that I could not abandon the Embassy and leave Zagreb and that a missile attack would be a crime, because he clearly threatened to attack Zagreb if the situation deteriorates, Galbraith said.
The witness said that the shelling of Zagreb, which took place on 2 and 3 May 1995, was an indiscriminate attack in which a children's hospital, the National Theatre and a school were hit. He added that it was also a terrorist attack with no military target.
Martic is charged with war crimes against Croatian civilians committed in the RSK, war crimes against non-Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the missile attacks on Zagreb.