BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4766

HR-BULLETINS-Politika BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4766 BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4766HINA Zagreb 8 October 2002CROATIA MARKS INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR THE FIRST TIMEZAGREB, Oct 8 (Hina) - On the occasion of Independence Day, a Croatian national holiday marked this year for the first time, numerous delegations on Tuesday laid wreaths in front of a cross built in honour of Croatian soldiers at Zagreb's central cemetery Mirogoj. President Stjepan Mesic was the first to lay wreaths on Tuesday morning. After that, delegations of parliament, led by deputy presidents Zdravko Tomac and Ivica Kostovic, and of the government, led by Premier Ivica Racan, also laid wreaths. Wreaths were also laid by delegations of the armed forces, the ministries of defence, interior affairs and war veterans, several associations of war veterans, the Zagreb authorities, and the SDP and HDZ political parties. The day was included in the calendar of state holidays for the first time last year to mark a de