The meeting focused on measures Croatia was taking to solve the case of fugitive general Ante Gotovina, the support of the Prosecutor's Office for the pre-trial release of generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac and other issues.
After the meeting Zuzul declined to speak to the press and give reasons for his unannounced visit to the Hague. "I cannot give you a statement. The minister will tell you everything you want to know," Zuzul told reporters.
Minister Skare Ozbolt said the meeting itself and Zuzul's participation in it was "very useful".
"We talked to the chief prosecutor about the only open issue left between Croatia and the ICTY -- the Gotovina case and how to solve it. The prosecutor was interested in all the efforts that have been taken lately and Croatian Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic informed her about a recent police operation," Skare Ozbolt said.
She said that the talks with the chief prosecutor also tackled the case of Cermak and Markac. The Prosecutor's Office stuck to its view that it would support their provisional release, which Skare Ozbolt said was encouraging.
Asked about Zuzul's unannounced visit and his participation in the talks, Skare Ozbolt said his joining the talks was connected to forthcoming reports to international bodies on cooperation between Croatia and ICTY.
"Minister Zuzul is visiting European countries these days, he recently visited the United States and he joined in this meeting today because there will be reports on Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY," Skare Ozbolt said and added Zuzul would soon address the UN General Assembly on this issue.
The ICTY reported today that del Ponte would speak at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on October 11.
Del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartmann confirmed that the meeting mainly focused on the efforts Croatia was making to arrest Gotovina and added the tribunal expected those efforts to continue.
The spokeswoman stressed the Prosecutor's Office will in the next several days respond to requests submitted by defence counsel for Cermak and Markac that they be granted the right to appeal the decision rejecting their application for provisional release. The Prosecutor's Office will support their provisional release.
Hartmann declined to comment on the unannounced arrival of minister Zuzul at the talks, stressing that the Prosecution knew the minister would come but did not know he would arrive at the very beginning of the talks.
ICTY spokesman Jim Landale said he was not informed about Zuzul's visit and added the Croatian foreign minister did not meet ICTY President Theodore Meron,
Earlier today, Croatian Justice Minister Skare Ozbolt held talks with Meron who called on the Croatian government to double its efforts in searching for and arresting general Gotovina. Skare Ozbolt confirmed Croatia's readiness to solve this last issue hampering the country's relations with the tribunal.
The talks also focused on the legal aspects of referring some ICTY cases to Croatia's judiciary, and Meron positively assessed preparations conducted by the Croatian judiciary for taking over war crimes trials.
Skare Ozbolt will take part in an informal meeting of the justice and interior ministers of EU member and candidate countries in the Hague district of Scheveningen on Thursday and Friday.