CROATIAN PM TO SPEAK WITH ICTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR WEDNESDAY

ZAGREB, April 14 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan will hold talks with the chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, the government's public relations office confirmed Monday. #L# Del Ponte was invited for talks by the Croatian government on March 7. The talks will focus on cooperation between Croatia and the ICTY. Racan told Croatian Radio Monday that "the path leads through talks with the Hague prosecutor to Athens and the European Union, we cannot escape that". He recalled that the government had invited her to Zagreb because of interpretations by certain a number of countries about Croatia's failure to cooperate with the tribunal. "We invited the prosecutor to hold open talks and clarify possible misunderstandings," Racan said. He said that an especially complex issue was the obligation to sent certain documents to the tribunal. Racan told the Croatian Radio he believed the case of retired Croatian General Janko Bobetko and the arrest of ICTY's indictee, Ivica Rajic, were proof that Croatia was a law-based state, aware of its obligations and was not avoiding them. "Despite a lack of understanding about Croatia's interests in the Bobetko case, the issue has been placed ad acta for the time being. It is no longer a matter for discussion," Racan said. (hina) lml