MESIC: SPLIT PROTEST ORGANISED BY THOSE AFRAID OF TRUTH

ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - In an interview for Croatian Television, Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Sunday evening said yesterday's incident in Split was organised with an attempt to bring Croatians into conflict, adding the most important thing was that the Croatian Army did not participate in the incident. Yesterday's ceremony of the marking of the tenth anniversary of the Croatian Armed Forces' Fourth Guard Brigade begun with an incident when a group of retired Fourth Brigade members and relatives of its killed members booed Mesic by shouting "Gypsy" and "thief". "The protest was organised by those who are afraid of the truth, those who benefited from the non-transparent budget spending," Mesic said in the interview. Mesic said the organisers of the protest would fail in their attempts, adding he knew who they were but did not wish to name them. The Croatian President reiterated his yesterday's statement that he was not aware Chetniks had so many followers in Split. He said he meant to say that those who provoked the incident had the same ideological foundation as those in Belgrade who were trying to prevent Milosevic's extradition to the Hague tribunal. "They are practically helping Milosevic", Mesic said. "I certainly cannot be offended by them, because I would have to stop and think if the organisers of the protest praised me," Mesic said. Mesic reiterated that the Croatian army behaved with dignity during the incident. "The army did not participate in it. It professionally conducted all of its duties and I am very proud of the Croatian Army", Mesic said. (hina) it sb