DEL PONTE CRITICISES CROATIA OVER GOTOVINA CASE, SLOW COOPERATION

NEW YORK/ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The Chief Prosecutor of The Hague- based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, told the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday that cooperation between former Yugoslav countries and the ICTY Prosecutor's Office did not meet her expectations. Speaking about Croatia, she particularly criticised its authorities for failing to arrest fugitive general Ante Gotovina. #L# The prosecutor said Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Republika Srpska and the Croat part of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to fully cooperate with the tribunal. Speaking about Croatia, Del Ponte said that the majority of her requests for accessing documents and witnesses were now treated in a serious and professional manner, but she added that the quality and pace of cooperation significantly improved with the approaching of important international deadlines. She said that the Croatian authorities were responsible for failure to arrest and extradite General Gotovina. Del Ponte said the Croatian government had recently forwarded to the tribunal documents supporting claims that Gotovina was outside of Croatia. She added that during her last visit to Zagreb she told Croatian officials that the tribunal had information that Gotovina was in Croatia and enjoyed protection there. The Prosecutor's Office and the Croatian authorities have agreed to cooperate in order to locate and arrest the general, Del Ponte said adding that she would consider Croatia's obligations fulfilled only after she saw results. The tribunal's president, Theodor Meron, who spoke before Del Ponte, told the Security Council it would not be possible for the tribunal to complete all trials by 2008, the deadline set by the Council. Del Ponte confirmed Meron's estimate. (hina) it