SIMONOVIC: CROATIA COOPERATES WITH ICTY AND CHALLENGES LEGALLY UNFOUNDED ASSESSMENTS

NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Hina) - The Croatian government has been using available legal means to challenge some parts of the indictment against Janko Bobetko and it cannot accept requests to withdraw its appeals, however, it will respect the decision of the UN war crimes tribunal's Appeals Chamber, Croatia's ambassador to the UN, Ivan Simonovic, said in New York on Tuesday. #L# Along with diplomats from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia Simonovic participated in a discussion on the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) before the UN Security Council. Simonovic expressed satisfaction that the reports of both ICTY president Claude Jorda and chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte noted "constant dialogue with the Croatian authorities". In recent weeks alone Croatia has received and met a number of requests by the ICTY, including those referring to the investigation of crimes from the indictment against General Bobetko, Simonovic said. The ambassador reminded about the government and parliament's view that some parts of the indictment were "legally and factually unfounded". The ICTY prosecution's interpretation of the nature of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the character of the Croatian Army's operations opposes the UN General Assembly's resolution on occupied Croatian areas as well as the interpretation of the conflict which the prosecution itself gave in the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic, Simonovic said. He supported the ICTY's intention to prosecute only the most infamous war criminals which he said should help establish a reliable historical record. From that aspect, he opposed attempts to equalise the guilt of parties to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Cooperation with the ICTY reflects Croatia's efforts to shed light on all crimes committed on its territory, including individual crimes committed by its troops, Simonovic said. (hina) rml