THOUSANDS RALLY IN SINJ TO PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF NORAC

SINJ, Feb 9 (Hina) - A protest rally in support of war crimes suspect Mirko Norac, which gathered several thousand people in the southern town of Sinj on Friday, passed peacefully and without incidents. The rally was addressed by numerous speakers, among them Split- Dalmatia County prefect Branimir Luksic, who said there were no more parties in Croatia at this moment but that "we are all a party of Croats." He said Split-Dalmatia County and the whole of Croatia were with retired general Norac. "Traitors and Antichrists think we will sit with our hands crossed," said Ivica Vladova, president of the county branch of the Association of Disabled Croatian Homeland Defence War Veterans. "We have come to zero point, so we will either move on or be crushed," he said in his brief but harsh address. A national body comprising 16 Homeland Defence War associations fully supported the Sinj protest rally, recommending that county branches stage similar protest in support of Norac, a suspect in war crimes committed against Croatian Serb civilians in the central town of Gospic in 1991. A protest in Zagreb has been announced for Feb. 15. (hina) ha sb