AMERICAN CROATS TOLD U.S. OFFICIALS ICTY ATTEMPTED TO REWRITE HISTORY OF CONFLICTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Hina) - A delegation of the National Federation of Croat Americans (NFCA) has voiced concern to U.S. officials about what they say is the Hague war crimes tribunal's attempt to rewrite the history of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and to show Croatia as the culprit for the war and not the victim of Serbian aggression.#L# The delegation met the U.S. ambassador for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, on Monday, complaining about indictments referring to 1995's Operation Storm, which they said characterised a justified military operation which liberated occupied territories as a criminal enterprise. The delegation, which included NFCA president John Kraljic, also said the Hague tribunal had often relied on unreliable sources, including former officials of the self-styled Republic of Serb Krajina, while collecting evidence against Croatian generals. The delegation went on to say that NFCA representatives had protested against the U.S. policy of linking Croatia's admission to NATO to the extradition of one man, General Ante Gotovina, notably when one considered Croatia's extensive cooperation with the tribunal. Citing examples of revising the history of the conflicts in the region, the NFCA mentioned the recent indictments against Bosnian Croats, which it said labelled the establishment of the Croat community of Herzeg-Bosna as a criminal enterprise. Kraljic said Herzeg-Bosna had been a logical step in the protection of Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina at a time when Bosnia was falling apart and the international arms embargo favoured Bosnian Serbs. At a meeting with Charles English, director of the State Department Office for Central and Eastern Europe, the NFCA asked that Croatia's admission to NATO be not linked to Albania and Macedonia since its Croatia's political and economic stability made it a better candidate for NATO entry. (Hina) it