MESIC SATISFIED WITH VISIT TO PETRINJA

PETRINJA, May 15 (Hina) - Croatian President and Armed Forces Supreme Commander Stipe Mesic said a meeting he held in Petrinja on Tuesday with the families of members of the Second Guard Brigade killed in the 1990s war passed in mutual understanding. "The families of those who were killed are aware that Croatia can give only as much as it has, and there were no exaggerations about it. The talks were definitely mutually useful," Mesic told reporters. Commenting on a recent visit to the Dracevac barracks in southern Croatia, when he was booed and insulted by relatives of killed members of the Fourth Guard Brigade, Mesic said "everything was organised to cause an incident and to make the army line up on the other side." "They failed, and here in Petrinja everything was perfect, professional and up to standard. I even saw part of an exercise performed by real professionals, and I am particularly satisfied with the military," the President said, after attending a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the Second Guard Brigade. (hina) ha sb