ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday he discussed the case of Ante Gotovina, the fugitive general wanted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, at his meeting with President Stjepan Mesic today but
declined to give any details.
ZAGREB, Sept 15 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on
Monday he discussed the case of Ante Gotovina, the fugitive general
wanted by the Hague war crimes tribunal, at his meeting with
President Stjepan Mesic today but declined to give any details.
#L#
Asked to comment on Liberal Party secretary-general Karl
Gorinsek's claim to the media today that he thought the government
or someone in the government knew Gotovina's whereabouts, Racan
said nobody in his cabinet knew that, or else Gotovina would be
arrested.
Racan said that if Gorinsek knew where Gotovina was, he expected him
to notify the media and the competent institutions. He added he
expected the same from those abroad who were groundlessly accusing
Croatia regarding this issue.
On another subject, the PM refuted media allegations that the
government did not endorse War Veterans Affairs Minister Ivica
Pancic's intention to disclose the names of veterans and killed
veterans' families who were allocated flats and housing loans.
"That's a lie. I personally advocate going public with that, as with
other lists of individuals who exercised material rights at
taxpayers' expense," the PM said, adding that he expected either
the passing of a new law or changing the current one on the
confidentiality of personal data.
Asked about his meeting today with Slovene Ambassador Peter Bekes,
Racan said he hoped relations between the two countries would go
back to normal.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a session of his Social Democratic
Party's presidency, Racan went on to say he did not see elements of
nepotism in the promotion of his wife, Dijana Plestina, to the rank
of ambassador.
Racan said the criticism levelled after her promotion only
indicated that the election campaign had begun. He commended
Plestina's humanitarian work, and said he saw no reason to justify
himself.
Racan stressed that his wife was promoted to the rank of ambassador
within the foreign ministry and was not accredited to a foreign
country, which he said was quite different.
"She hasn't received a salary for her humanitarian work in the past
and will not do so in the future either," he said.
(hina) ha