DC PRESIDENT COMMENTS OF PRESIDENT MESIC'S TESTIMONY IN THE HAGUE

KORENICA, Oct 3 (Hina) - The president of the Democratic Centre party (DC), Mate Granic, said in Korenica on Thursday that Croatian President Stjepan Mesic's testimony in the trial against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic before the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal had strengthened the position of the prosecution, but that in many questions Mesic could have been prepared better. #L# An example of Mesic not being prepared was a reply to Milosevic's claim that Croatia had committed an aggression against UNPA zones, to which Mesic said that Croatia had to have connected Croatia's north and south, which is correct. However, Granic said, Mesic had not stated that UNPA zones were Croatia's occupied areas and that in line with UN Security Council Resolutions and the UN General Assembly, Croatia had had the right to liberate its areas, especially since UNPROFOR had not disarmed the rebel and terrorist Serbs, and when during the time of UNPROFOR 680 people, mostly Croats, had been killed. Speaking about the tribunal's indictment against retired General Janko Bobetko, Mate Granic said Croatia was faced with the strongest pressures of the international community since 1994, when the UN Security Council threatened with sanctions. The DC endorses the government's stance and believes the issue should be solved through consensus, responsibly without the meddling of politics. Croatia's position would be stronger if the Croatian judiciary decided about the Bobetko indictment instead of the government, since the government cannot fight the Hague prosecution and international community with any policy, Granic said. (hina) lml