ZAGREB, Feb 21 (Hina) - Croatia's President and Army Supreme Commander, Stjepan Mesic, on Friday visited a platoon of the military police in Zagreb, that should soon depart to Afghanistan for an international peace mission.
ZAGREB, Feb 21 (Hina) - Croatia's President and Army Supreme
Commander, Stjepan Mesic, on Friday visited a platoon of the
military police in Zagreb, that should soon depart to Afghanistan
for an international peace mission. #L#
"You are in the service of peace and not war. However, you are going
to a volatile area," Mesic warned Croatian military police officers
and told them they could terminate their mission in case of any
life-threatening situation, according to their constitutional
rights.
The Croatian head of state said the world was now at a turning point,
as it was faced by terrorism as a global threat, and by an anti-
terrorist coalition, on the other hand, and Croatia would like to
help the coalition as much as it could, he added.
The army's chief-of-staff, General Josip Lucic, briefed President
Mesic that after its two-year-long training the 44-member unit was
entirely ready for participating in the ISAF mission in
Afghanistan. Four members in the Croatian platoon are women.
Gen. Lucic announced that some other units would soon be prepared
for peace missions in which Croatia, as a member of NATO's
Partnership for Peace programme, can participate. These units are
an infantry battalion, the ABKO platoon, an engineer platoon and a
unit of medical personnel.
The six-member advance guard contingent has already flown to Kabul,
and other Croatian peace-keepers will join them later this month.
(hina) ms