MIROSLAV TUDJMAN: WE NEED WISDOM AND RECONCILIATION

DUBROVNIK, Feb 11 (Hina) - The Croatian government cannot meet the Hague tribunal's demands until the aggressor is processed and war crimes against Bosnian Croats punished, said Miroslav Tudjman, president of the Association for Croatia's Identity and Prosperity and the son of late president Franjo Tudjman. Tudjman was speaking last night in Dubrovnik, where he presented the programme of his association. Tudjman believes Croatia is facing not only an economic but also a national crisis, which he says is proved best with the criminalisation of the Homeland War and the negation of the first Croatian president. Commenting for Hina earlier in the day on the case of Mirko Norac, a retired general and war crimes suspect, Tudjman said the current national crisis was deepening. The government is losing control over events because it does not respect its own decisions or those adopted by parliament, he said. Tudjman recalled that the parliament adopted a declaration on the Homeland War which reads that Croatia conducted a just and legitimate war, aimed at liberation and not aggression or conquest. One must first process crimes committed during the aggression on Croatia and eventually alleged crimes committed in defence. The Croatian people and state "now need wisdom and reconciliation instead of the destruction of unity and national interests," he said. (hina) rml