ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, June 25 (Hina) - A former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia, Peter Galbraith, said in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague on Wednesday that there had been no ethnic cleansing in the
Croatian "Storm" operation, rather, isolated cases of human rights violations.
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, June 25 (Hina) - A former U.S. Ambassador to
Croatia, Peter Galbraith, said in the trial of former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague on Wednesday that there
had been no ethnic cleansing in the Croatian "Storm" operation,
rather, isolated cases of human rights violations. #L#
There was no ethnic cleansing because when the Croatian army
entered cities, the local population was no longer there, said
Galbraith, a prosecutorial witness in Milosevic's trial for war
crimes in Croatia.
The former ambassador told the trial chamber that he had tried to
deter the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman from going through
with "Storm". Tudjman decided to go to war anyway, said Galbraith,
who was ambassador in Croatia from 1993 through 1998.
The United States neither supported nor opposed the operation,
viewing it as the lesser evil than a possible massacre of the
population of Bihac in Bosnia by Serb troops, he said.
Ahead of "Storm", Galbraith asked the authorities of the self-
styled Republic of Srpska Krajina to accept Croatia's conditions --
to cease the siege of Bihac, open up oil pipelines, roads and
railways through Knin and to start negotiations on the region's
peaceful reintegration into the Croatian constitutional order, he
said.
Galbraith said he had warned the Krajina Serb authorities that a
catastrophe was brewing and they should agree to Tudjman's
conditions, but they refused to do so.
The action ensued and Croats did not take part in ethnic cleansing,
Galbraith said, adding that the American side had spoken about the
violations of human rights of the Krajina population very
critically, publicly and with Tudjman.
Galbraith said that after Croatia had successfully liberated most
of its occupied territory, Tudjman was ready to engage the military
in reintegrating Eastern Slavonia.
He also described how Milosevic had replied to Tudjman's threat to
reintegrate Eastern Slavonia by military means at the start of
Dayton negotiations in 1995 by saying Tudjman was a good man, but
under the strong influence of generals.
The Dayton talks, besides Bosnia, also focused on negotiations on
Eastern Slavonia.
(hina) lml