ARLOVIC: CROATIA MUST PROVE THAT IT WAS NOT FOUNDED ON CRIME

SPLIT, March 21 (Hina) - A senior official of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mato Arlovic, has said Croatia must not allow attempts aimed at using the indictments against generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac to prove that its independence was based on crime.#L# "For the sake of future generations we must prove that Croatia did not carry out aggression against or waged a war of occupation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is indicated with the announced Hague indictments. If (Croatia) is convicted of such a thing, our children will have to pay war reparations," the SDP's vice-president and vice-president of the Sabor said at a party convention in Split on Sunday. Arlovic said that efforts should be made to prove that Croatia had the right to launch operations like Operation "Storm" to protect its sovereignty and claim back its occupied areas. If crimes happened during those operations, their perpetrators have a name and should answer for them, he said. That is why a debate on Croatia's position towards the Hague tribunal must be held in parliament, at least before its Committee on Foreign Policy, Arlovic said, accusing the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of avoiding the debate to maintain the iron discipline imposed on its deputies. Arlovic also said that Croatia was facing a major economic and political crisis in autumn. He accused the government of adopting a recession budget, stopping the project of railway modernisation and the construction of a gas supply system which resulted in an increase in unemployment and a loss of contracts for many companies. Arlovic also believes that pensioners have not benefitted from their agreement with the HDZ. The SDP official said that proposed changes to the Constitution were being used to divert public attention from serious problems. (Hina) rml