"General Gotovina will certainly consent to the interview... but he must prepare himself for it," Ivanovic told Hina on the phone. "Once the necessary preparations have been carried out, General Gotovina will talk with the investigators, which he was prevented from doing in 1998."
That year the Croatian authorities declined the Hague tribunal's request for an interview with Gotovina as a suspect, in line with a policy which denied the UN court's jurisdiction over the 1995 operations Flash and Storm.
Gotovina was arrested in Spain on Wednesday after four and a half years on the run. He had expressed willingness to talk with the Hague tribunal's investigators in a summer 2003 interview with the Croatian weekly Nacional, when he asked that the talks with the investigators be held in Croatia.
Gotovina's US attorney Luka Misetic said in a letter to Vecernji List daily on January 11 this year the general was ready to face charges of war crimes provided that he be tried in Croatia, namely if the Hague tribunal referred his case to national courts.
The tribunal's Office of the Prosecutor always rejected such initiatives, saying there were no negotiations with fugitive indictees.
Once indictees arrive in the detention unit, the Office of the Prosecutor usually offers them an interview with investigators, especially if this has not been done during investigation. Indictees are not obliged to consent to the interview, but if they do, this willingness to cooperate is generally awarded at later stages in the proceedings.
Gotovina is expected to be transferred to The Hague tomorrow morning aboard a Spanish military plane. Landing at a smaller civilian airport near The Hague is expected around 8.30 am, according to unofficial sources.
Arraignment is expected on Monday afternoon. If he declines to enter a plea on that occasion, tribunal rules allow him to do so within the next 30 days.
Gotovina is charged with seven counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war, allegedly committed against Serb civilians and their property in the wider Knin area during and after Operation Storm, between August and November 1995.