We expect Gotovina in The Hague very, very soon, I hope. Prime Minister Sanader has provided a plan for locating Gotovina and destroying the network which supports him, so we expect the results of this plan very soon, she told the press after attending a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
Answering a question from the press, del Ponte said she told the OSCE ambassadors that based on Sanader's action plan Croatian authorities were now ready also for coercive measures towards Gotovina.
Asked if there was any change with regard to Croatia's full cooperation with the UN court, she said: No, as far as I know, there are no changes.
Asked by the press about proof for her claims that Gotovina is in Croatia, del Ponte said: I have elements saying that he is within reach of the Croatian authorities. If he is not in Croatia, he is in the Croat part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sanader will no longer deny that. He said that he personally didn't know Gotovina's location. I can believe that he doesn't, but the network supporting Gotovina is very strong in Croatia. If the prime minister is willing to destroy this network, Gotovina's whereabouts will be deciphered very quickly.
Asked if Gotovina was using his French passport, del Ponte said that no one had information that he had used the French passport or the recently discovered fake Croatian passport, which she added proved that he was in Croatia and did not need passports.
Del Ponte confirmed that General Philippe Rondot of the French intelligence was involved in tracking down Gotovina but that there had been no results yet.
Asked about the possibility of the Gotovina trial being referred to Croatia, the chief prosecutor said that was absolutely impossible because the UN resolution explicitly named him as an accused that must be tried in The Hague.
Del Ponte said that unless there were results by June 13, she would inform the UN Security Council that Gotovina was still within the reach of Croatian authorities.
A German reporter asked if she considered it a success that the EU had postponed Croatia's entry negotiations and opened Serbia and Montenegro's stabilisation and association process, and if other powers had a part in that. Del Ponte said she would consider Gotovina's appearance in The Hague a success.
Asked about PM Sanader's announcement that the Croatian government would enter into dialogue with the Hague tribunal's Prosecution regarding the draft amended indictment against generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, del Ponte said the indictment could not be a subject of political debate or manipulation.
We don't discuss indictments with the prime minister. This is discussed only in court. Political manipulations with indictments is unacceptable. The indictment against Markac and Cermak hasn't been amended and Operation Storm hasn't been criminalised, del Ponte said.
As regards announcements that Croatia will get involved in the proceedings through the amici curiae because of politically and legally unacceptable allegations in the indictment, del Ponte said this was up to the tribunal to decide.
The Permanent Council adopted a decision entrusting OSCE missions with monitoring trials for war crimes which the Hague tribunal will refer to Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia-Montenegro.
In a debate, EU and US representatives underlined the UN court's importance for reconciliation, peace and stability in the region, and called on regional governments to cooperate fully and extradite runaway indictees, particularly Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, and Gotovina.
The path to the EU and NATO leads through cooperation with the Hague tribunal, the countries of the region were told. International representatives also highlighted the importance of further strengthening judicial systems and their cooperation, and reiterated that trials referred from the Hague tribunal must be fair.