VOICE OF AMERICA SAYS IT CONVEYED UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT FAITHFULLY

ZAGREB, May 17 (Hina) - Voice of America on Saturday commented on a denial by the head of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia's (ICTY) Liaison Office in Croatia who earlier today informed the Croatian government that Voice of America had misinterpreted a statement by ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte on Friday. The radio station confirmed that it had faithfully conveyed the meaning of Del Ponte's statement, however, it did not say that the report was based on an unofficial transcript of Del Ponte's address in the US Congress. #L# Voice of America reported yesterday that in her address to Congress Del Ponte accused the Croatian government of knowing the whereabouts of runaway General Ante Gotovina but not wanting to arrest him for political reasons. In a prompt reaction to the report, the head of the Croatian government's office for cooperation with the U.N. tribunal, Frane Krnic, said he was surprised and concerned about the statement as it was completely contrary to the actual situation as well as Del Ponte's statements during her last visit to Zagreb. The head of the ICTY's Liaison Office, Thomas Osorio, informed Croatian state officials today that Del Ponte's statement as reported yesterday by the Croatian media, which quoted Voice of America, was not true and did not correspond with what Del Ponte said. Voice of America says it has carefully re-examined the transcript of Del Ponte's address and established that her statement was conveyed faithfully. However, it is not mentioned anywhere that Voice of America re-examined the unofficial transcript of Del Ponte's address, which was also released on the web site of the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. (hina) rml