LS PARTY AGAINST MANOEUVRING IN RELATIONS WITH ICTY

ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - The Liberal Party (LS) in Croatia believes that no-one should be playing tactics as a pre-election stunt as far as co-operation with the Hague Tribunal is concerned. The LS referred to whether or not someone in the country knows about the whereabouts of fugitive Croatian General Ante Gotovina. #L# "In that regard, no-one in Croatia should be playing tactics as a pre-election stunt because the matter is a too serious and vital for Croatia's future. In that regard neither the government, nor President nor any other Croatian institution should behave irresponsibly in the matter," said LS Secretary-General Karl Gorinsek at a press conference on Monday. He noted that Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) had repeatedly said that her Office and the Croatian government knew where General Gotovina was. On the other hand, President Mesic, Premier Ivica Racan and his deputy, adamantly claim that neither the government nor its relevant institutions know Gen. Gotovina's whereabouts. Gorinsek wondered who in fact was telling the truth then. He pointed out that he personally believed the government or someone in the government, knew where Gotovina was and that he was most likely not in the country. The LS official expressed hope that before the end of October, which is the deadline set by Carla del Ponte for the government to put an end to this matter, the issue would be removed from the agenda in line with the tribunal's regulations and the country's constitutional law on co-operation with the court. Speaking about negotiations about a possible coalition with Libra, LS Vice-President Andrea Feldman said the talks had ceased because of Libra's estimates that it would be more useful for that party to come to some sort of agreement with the Social Democratic Party. (hina) sp ms