SIMONOVIC: WORLD REACTIONS DEPEND ON CROATIA'S ARGUMENTS

ZAGREB, Sept 25 (Hina) - The international community's reactions on Croatia's moves in the case of General Bobetko, whose extradition was requested by the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal, depend on how the Croatian government and diplomacy will argue its standpoints, Croatian Ambassador to the U.N. Ivan Simonovic said in Zagreb on Wednesday. #L# Speaking about possible reactions of the international community on Croatia's decision to deny parts of the indictment against retired general Bobetko, claiming that they are in opposition to the Constitution, the Ambassador said the reactions depended on Croatia's arguments. "The U.N Security Council has not as yet discussed those issues," Simonovic said. "A lot will depend on the way the Croatian government and diplomacy argue their standpoints," he said. Asked to comment on whether the tribunal's disputing the legality of the Medak Pocket operation was the sufficient legal basis for winning the dispute with the ICTY, Simonovic said "the matter should be additionally legally articulated", and stressed that "all government actions must have legal foundations". Simonovic declined to comment on the requests of the Opposition to amend the constitutional law on cooperation with the ICTY, as an interior-legal issue. He said "the Security Council demands that the constitutional law, no matter what it looks like, be in line with Security Council Resolution, under which the Statute of the International Tribunal at The Hague was adopted". Commenting on the implementation of silent sanctions against Croatia, namely the stoppage of its international processes because of "the Bobetko case", Simonovic said it was too early to speak about it. (hina) it sb