ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - Croatian Interior Minister Sime Lucin has said that he cannot comment on the alleged presence of the Bosnian Serb intelligence in Croatia until he obtains concrete data on the matter.
ZAGREB, April 2 (Hina) - Croatian Interior Minister Sime Lucin has
said that he cannot comment on the alleged presence of the Bosnian
Serb intelligence in Croatia until he obtains concrete data on the
matter. #L#
Speaking in Tuesday night's "Forum" programme on Croatian
Television, Lucin said he was familiar with claims by the Bosnian
media that the secret services of the Bosnian Serb entity also
operated in Split and Makarska in Croatia, but he could not comment
on any details as he did not have any concrete information.
Bosnia's "Dnevni avaz" daily from Sarajevo and "Nezavisne novine"
from Banja Luka on Tuesday published documents reportedly seized by
the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Banja Luka, containing, among
other things, instructions for the Bosnian Serb army intelligence
in Banja Luka, Tuzla, Jajce, Zvornik, Mostar and in Split and
Makarska in Croatia.
A Social Democrat and deputy chairman of the parliament's Committee
on Internal Affairs and National Security, Ivan Ninic, who was also
a guest in the programme, said that foreign intelligence services,
including the Bosnian Serb, were not tapping anyone in Croatia.
Speaking about the presence of foreign intelligence in Croatia,
Ninic said this was a normal occurrence and that Croatian
intelligence services had the task to collect information in other
countries as well.
A former head of the intelligence community, Miroslav Tudjman, said
the discovery of Bosnian Serb agents in Croatia was interesting
only in that the Bosnian Serbs were last October accused of illegal
arms trade with Iraq.
Answering questions, Lucin said that seven months ago he had
promised the completion of investigations into several major cases
including the murder of Milan Levar, a witness for the U.N. war
crimes tribunal in The Hague, and the planting of explosive under a
monument to World War II heroes at Zagreb's central cemetery,
however, he said the crimes were very difficult to prepare for trial
and pre-trial proceedings were still underway.
Commenting on claims by Social Liberal Josko Kontic that the
Croatian intelligence community was operating unlawfully because
the heads of three intelligence agencies had still not been
appointed, the SDP's Ninic said that the services were operating
normally and were headed by acting directors.
(hina) rml