PARTIES, ASSOCIATIONS COMMENT ON RALLIES OVER NORAC CASE

ZAGREB, Feb 12 (Hina) - A national coordinating body gathering Croatian Homeland War associations on Monday adopted a programme of activities for a central protest rally for the protection of the Homeland War, to be held in Zagreb's St. Mark's Square on February 15. The body said it would organise the rally on its own. The cause for this decision is the case of retired Croatian general Mirko Norac, a suspect in the 1991 war crimes against civilians in the Gospic area, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued. The leader of the Croatian Disabled Homeland War Veterans (HVIDRA) association, Marinko Liovic, told reporters today the association would support peaceful rallies until the whereabouts of General Norac were made known. HVIDRA denies any political party the right to use Croatian soldiers as a front for their political conflicts, representatives said after today's session of the association's main committee and central bodies. The coordinating body of Homeland War associations from Medjimujre County will not organise or participate in any protest rallies because it does not support the announced rallies as it believes they are not the right way to solve the new problems. The leader of the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) party, Ivan Jakovcic, called today on Istria residents to attend a rally for peace and democracy the party intends to organise in Pula on Saturday. He called on county representatives of the country's ruling six-party coalition to join the IDS in organising the meeting. With olive branches, the symbol of peace and coexistence, Istria residents will show what the city of Pula and Istria have been like for a long time, Jakovcic said. He dismissed claims that the meeting was organised as a response to yesterday's Split meeting of support for General Norac. The Social Democratic Party will staunchly oppose "the rabble- rousing policy of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)," senior SDP officials Zeljka Antunovic and Slavko Linic told reporters today, adding their response was not aimed against citizens and soldiers, whom they urged to think about what the HDZ had done for the protection of their interests and what the ruling coalition had done in that regard. The two officials refused to speak on behalf of the government and comment on the latest information on the Norac case in their capacity as vice premiers. The Democratic Centre party is worried about the radicalisation of the political scene and division in Croatian society and calls for dialogue and consensus on the basic values of society, DC president Mate Granic told reporters. The DC suggests that President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan hold an urgent meeting with the representatives of all parliamentary parties as well as that the parliament speaker meet the heads of parliamentary benches for talks on a parliamentary debate about the current issues related to the Norac case. The Serb People's Party (SNS) supports the Government, the President of the Republic, the Croatian Parliament and bodies of judicial authority in their efforts to protect Croatia as a law- based and democratic state, a state of equal citizens. "We strongly believed that the times of open intolerance, war cries and other forms of extremism were far behind us. Unfortunately, we are witnessing the old HDZ policy denying and toppling the new, democratic Croatia," the party said in a statement. (hina) rml