CROATIAN TROOPS IN DUBROVNIK WEREN'T THREAT TO JNA - FORMER YUGOSLAV ADMIRAL

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 25 (Hina) - The few Croatian troops in Dubrovnik in 1991 did not represent a real danger to the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), which engaged more than 25,000 soldiers in the Dubrovnik operation, JNA Admiral Miodrag Jokic said before the Hague war crimes tribunal on Thursday.#L# Testifying against JNA General Pavle Strugar, Jokic said that based on estimates of combat possibility, the Croatian troops could not stop the JNA attack, defeat the JNA or cause it substantial losses. At the time of the attack in late 1991, Jokic was the commander of the Ninth Naval Area and subordinate to Strugar, who was the commander of the JNA Second Operations Group. The indictment charges Strugar with six counts of violations of the laws and customs of war committed through the shelling of Dubrovnik's Old Town on 6 December 1991. Jokic, who is co-accused with Strugar, pleaded guilty to war crimes and was sentenced to seven years in jail on March 18. In the plea agreement, Jokic pledged to testify against Strugar. Over his two-day testimony he turned out to be a crown witness for the prosecution who presented key data on the course of the attack on Dubrovnik and confirmed the authenticity of a series of JNA documents and orders pointing to numerous breaches of international humanitarian law committed in the operation. Speaking of the events of late 1991, Jokic said that Croatian troops used guerrilla tactics and provocation to cause losses to the JNA, which responded with force. In October 1991, Croatian troops in the Dubrovnik area numbered between 1,500 and 2,000 poorly armed fighters, while JNA had between 10,000 and 12,000 soldiers, he said, adding that the Second Operations Group numbered 25,684 people and was superior also in terms of heavy artillery. Jokic confirmed the existence of a JNA order from 1991 on the protection of cultural monuments, with a list of world heritage monuments in the then Yugoslavia. Topping the list was Dubrovnik's UNESCO-protected Old Town. Jokic said all units around Dubrovnik were familiar with that order, and that the shelling of the Old Town was strictly prohibited. He added that many orders were breached by undisciplined units, notably the Trebinje Brigade's Third Battalion, which was commanded by Vladimir Kovacevic aka Rambo, who Jokic said enjoyed full support and protection from Strugar. Kovacevic has also been indicted by the Hague tribunal. (Hina) ha ms