THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic and the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla del Ponte, discussed cooperation between
Croatia and the Tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday, del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence Hartmann told Hina in a phone interview.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 26 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Prime Minister
Goran Granic and the Chief Prosecutor of the Hague-based
International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY),
Carla del Ponte, discussed cooperation between Croatia and the
Tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday, del Ponte's spokeswoman Florence
Hartmann told Hina in a phone interview. #L#
Granic told Hina the talks tackled Croatia's cooperation with the
ICTY and del Ponte's visit to Vukovar, which is to take place in
early May.
"This has been the most pleasant meeting in my two-year mandate
because our cooperation is not burdened by any problems," Granic
said, adding that a large part of the meeting focused on cooperation
between Serbia and the ICTY. Belgrade is expected to fulfil its
obligations towards the Tribunal by the end of this month if it
wants to continue receiving financial assistance from the United
States.
The meeting also tackled the case of an ICTY indictee, runaway
Croatian general Ante Gotovina. Gotovina was indicted for war
crimes committed during the Croatian army operation "Storm".
Hartmann said that Granic informed the ICTY Prosecutor about
actions Croatia was taking to trace Gotovina. Granic said that the
Croatian police and judicial authorities were closely cooperating
on the case. He also informed del Ponte about Gotovina's dispute
with the government regarding documents the government had handed
to the ICTY.
Asked whether they discussed new indictments, Hartmann said that
that issue was not discussed.
The media in Croatia and former Yugoslavia have been speculating
about the possibility that the ICTY could issue new indictments
against Croatian citizens.
Hartmann said that Granic had provided guarantees that Croatia
would continue cooperating with the tribunal.
Asked if he would continue to be in charge of cooperation with the
ICTY, Granic, who chairs the government's Council for Cooperation
with the ICTY, said talks about new assignments would be held soon.
Today's meeting, which was previously arranged and lasted more than
an hour, was also attended by the Croatian Ambassador to the
Netherlands, Jaksa Muljacic, and the president of the Office for
Cooperation with the Tribunal, Orsat Miljanic.
(hina) rml,,