OPPOSITION'S DEMOCRATIC CENTRE COMMENTS ON TOPICAL ISSUES

DUBROVNIK, March 16 (Hina) - Mate Granic, president of the opposition Democratic Centre (DC), held a news conference in Dubrovnik on Sunday, commenting on the Iraqi crisis, the Krsko nuclear power plant, and the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. #L# Granic said the DC opposed any intervention in Iraq without the permission of the U.N. Security Council. He said the DC fully realised the danger posed by international terrorism and the U.S. sensitivity to it, but stressed Croatia must not participate in any action without a new Security Council resolution. A much bigger threat to global security comes from North Korea, the toughest totalitarian communist regime which harshly violates its citizens' human rights and has nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, Granic said. He criticised the Croatian parliament for deciding not to void an agreement with Slovenia on the jointly owned Krsko plant which he said was harmful for Croatia. Granic said the murder of Serbia's PM Djindjic was an attempt to halt democratic changes in Serbia, and that both Croatia and the European Union should draw a lesson from it. Croatian authorities must be more determined and organised in combating organised crime, while the EU has to realise that Croatia's problems are different from those in Serbia but also in the other countries participating in the Stabilisation and Association Process, said Granic. (hina) ha