With the Action Plan, Croatia is fully committed to locating and arresting Gotovina and I hope it will do it, or that it will prove it has done everything to find him. That is what we will tell the UN Security Council on June 13, Del Ponte told reporters in Zagreb after meeting Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.
She said that there were still a few days left until the report was submitted and that different results were possible, which she would explain to the Security Council. She added that the report would be positive in many aspects.
"In the written report, which I think will be published on Friday, we speak about good cooperation with Croatia also on the issue of Gotovina," the prosecutor said.
Asked whether the report would say that there was full cooperation between Croatia and the ICTY, she said that it was too soon for that, but that Croatia was on the right track with regard to establishing full cooperation.
"If the Action Plan is implemented as it is being implemented now, we will come to that result, but now it is still premature to speak about the full cooperation."
Sanader expressed satisfaction with the meeting, saying that it showed that "the Croatian government is trusted when it says that it is willing and determined to solve the Gotovina case and fully implement the Action Plan." He added that his government would continue implementing the Action Plan with equal determination.
Del Ponte said that both she and PM Sanader were trying to ensure that Gotovina appeared before the tribunal in The Hague.
"The government is really, really willing to ensure that Gotovina is transferred to The Hague. I wish myself and the Prime Minister full success," Del Ponte said, adding that full cooperation existed with regard to requests for witnesses and documents.
Noting that the prosecutors were closely following the implementation of the Action Plan, Del Ponte said she was grateful for the judicial and investigative activities that had been or would be undertaken to locate Gotovina. She stressed that the transfer of the fugitive general to The Hague was the last outstanding issue between the ICTY and Zagreb.
Del Ponte announced the possibility of sending her report on Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal to EU foreign ministers if they asked for it.
The EU has set full cooperation with the ICTY as the condition for opening membership talks with Croatia.
Sanader said that he had informed Del Ponte of everything that had been done as part of the Action Plan since April 26, and expressed hope that the efforts of the Croatian government would be positively evaluated by the prosecutor, the ICTY, the EU and the UN.
He confirmed that the government had received information from Italian authorities on an incident which occurred recently when a bag containing press clippings on Gotovina and clothing was found in southern Italy.
"We have received information from the Italian intelligence service that the case is being investigated. We
have forwarded all the information we have received from Italy to Mrs. Del Ponte," Sanader said, adding that Croatia and Italy were cooperating on this case. He said that in the interests of the further investigation he could not reveal any details.
The PM went on to say that Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic had informed him and the ICTY that the so-called Brijuni transcripts were authentic and that "General Gotovina cannot build his defence on the assumption that the transcripts are a forgery".
Those who used the allegation that the transcripts were forged to build Gotovina's defence and oppose the tribunal have to face the fact that the transcripts are authentic, Sanader said.
Asked whether he and Del Ponte had discussed the amending of the indictment against generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, Sanader said that Del Ponte had reiterated that the legitimacy of Operation Storm was unquestionable, "which is most important", while the rest would be established before the tribunal.
The meeting between Sanader and Del Ponte was also attended by Justice Minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, the Action Plan Coordinator and State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, Hidajet Biscevic, and Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic.
After the meeting and the press conference, President Stjepan Mesic invited Del Ponte to dinner.