SLOVENE PRESIDENT TALKS TO ICTY REPRESENTATIVES

LJUBLJANA, Nov 5 (Hina) - Slovene President Milan Kucan on Tuesday spoke to representatives of the prosecution of the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague about the political circumstances which led to the break-up of the ex-Yugoslavia and the ensuing war, Kucan's office said in a statement, adding that the talks would resume tomorrow. #L# Reports that Kucan and Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek might testify at the trial against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic or speak about the events of that time were received in Slovenia with some surprise, even though the government today confirmed that the Hague tribunal's interest in interviews with Slovene officials had been voiced by a diplomatic route five months ago. National media claim that in the last two years, since a law regulating cooperation with the Hague tribunal was adopted, a dozen requests have been received for cooperation with official bodies and military and civilian experts who could shed light on the background of events at the turn of the 1980s into the 1990s. The media also say that the UN tribunal's interest does not refer to Slovenes as active participants in the Yugoslav political vortex of that time. (hina) ha sb