CROATIA TO ASK MACEDONIA TO EXTRADITE NOVAKOVIC

ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - Croatian authorities confirmed on Friday that the person arrested by Macedonian police was Mile Novakovic, who has been sentenced in Croatia to 20 years' imprisonment for war crimes, and said they would request his extradition. #L# The Interpol office in Macedonia informed the Croatian Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Public Prosecutor on Friday that Novakovic, aged 53, had been arrested on the border with Serbia on Thursday. Earlier on Friday, Macedonian police said they had apprehended a foreign national convicted of war crimes, identifying him only by his initials, M.N. According to the same source, an order has been issued in the town of Kumanovo to place him in custody for 30 days pending extradition. "Croatia will request within this deadline that Novakovic be extradited," Zdravko Stojanovic, assistant justice minister for international legal assistance, told Hina. "A request for extradition is being prepared," he added. The Office of the Public Prosecutor has said in a statement that Novakovic was arrested on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the Interpol office in Zagreb following an order by the Sibenik County Court. Belgrade-based B92 radio reported on Friday morning that Novakovic was arrested when he went as a member of a state delegation to lay wreaths at the monument to Serb war veterans at Zejtinlik. Novakovic was born near Slunj in Croatia on January 15, 1950. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the armed forces of Serbia- Montenegro and leads the Serbian Association of Disabled War Veterans. As a former deputy commander of Serb rebel forces in Croatia, he was sentenced to a prison term in absentia in January 1995 for war crimes against the civilian population, use of illegal weapons and destruction of churches and historical monuments. Another three rebel Serb leaders -- Goran Hadzic, Djordje Bjegovic and Kosta Novakovic -- were convicted on the same charges together with him. (hina) vm