US AMBASSADOR PROSPER TO VISIT CROATIA

BANJA LUKA, Dec 4 (Hina) - The US ambassador in charge of war crimes issues, Pierre-Richard Prosper, said in Banja Luka on Wednesday evening he would visit Croatia after Christmas holidays and make it clear to the new government that obstructing cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was not in its interest. #L# Asked by reporters if there was concern that the new Croatian government, led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, could obstruct cooperation with the Hague-based tribunal, Prosper said Croatia was on the right track to join the European Union and that obstacles on that path should not be set by a few whose political option was out of date. The new Croatian authorities will be told that they must not prevent their citizens from joining Europe, Prosper said. Concluding the news conference, the ambassador said that political leaderships in the region had simple tasks which they had to carry out: Croatia had to arrest retired general Ante Gotovina and transfer him to The Hague, Serbia and Montenegro had to arrest and hand over General Ratko Mladic, while Bosnian Serb authorities had to arrest and extradite Radovan Karadzic. (hina) rml