CROATIAN WORLD CONGRESS REQUESTS INVESTIGATION AGAINST CLINTON

ZAGREB, July 5 (Hina) - The Croatian World Congress on Thursday submitted a request to Carla del Ponte, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), to open an investigation against former US President William Jefferson Clinton and his closest associates for "aiding and abetting indicted Croatian General Ante Gotovina in a 1995 Croatian military operation known as 'Operation Storm'". #L# The Croatian World Congress believes that neither Gotovina nor US officials are guilty of war crimes, but it also believes that if the ICTY Prosecutor insists on Gotovina's prosecution, the US officials should be prosecuted as well. The ICTY Prosecution last year indicted Gen. Gotovina of war crimes committed in the course of and after Operation Storm. The association's complaint to the ICTY alleges that the US officials aided Gen. Gotovina and the Croatian Army in Operation Storm by violating a UN arms embargo and allowing Croatia to obtain weapons. Furthermore, the association claims that the US officials established a CIA base inside of Gen. Gotovina's military base which provided the US officials with real-time video footage of events transpiring on the ground during Operation Storm and thus with knowledge of a possible ethnic cleansing plan and Gotovina's conduct. The Croatian World Congress claims the US administration gave the green light for the operation and provided diplomatic and political support for it, as well as that it had the ability to stop it. The association, however, reiterates that "the most just outcome would be to withdraw the indictment against General Gotovina". The Croatian World Congress is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-party international organisation that enjoys advisory status as a member of the United Nations. (hina) rml sb