NETHERLANDS WAITS FOR TRIBUNAL'S ANSWER BEFORE IT RATIFIES SAA

ZAGREB, April 6 (Hina) - The Dutch parliament will decide on the resumption of the process of the ratification of the EU-Croatian Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) after the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) assesses Croatia's cooperation with that court, a source form the Dutch Embassy in Zagreb said on Tuesday.#L# We are waiting for the tribunal to give an answer, Deputy Ambassador Klarien Beek told Hina after he was asked whether the process of SAA ratification would be stepped up following the transfer of Croatian generals and several high-profile Bosnian Croat war-time military and political officials to The Hague. We expect Croatia to fully cooperate with the Hague tribunal, and it is up to the latter to decide whether the cooperation is full, Beek said. Great Britain, which has not ratified the SAA either, on Tuesday welcomed the voluntary surrender of the six Bosnian Croats to the UN tribunal and the role the Croatian government played in making it possible. "We hope that (indicted retired Croatian general) Ante Gotovina will follow their example and we look to the Croatian government to do everything in its power to ensure that he appears before the Hague tribunal as soon as possible," said the statement issued by the British Embassy in Zagreb. Three of the 15 EU member-states have not yet completed the ratification process. The Netherlands and Great Britain have not done it because of the case of fugitive general Gotovina, while Italy, according to an official explanation, has not yet put the issue to the vote in parliament. (Hina) ms