BLEWITT ON ICTY-CROATIAN COOPERATION AHEAD OF DEL PONTE'S VISIT

THE HAGUE, July 4 (Hina) - Cooperation between Croatia and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is on the ascending line, even though Croatia still has not fulfilled the requests of the ICTY prosecutor's office which are not numerous but are very significant, ICTY deputy chief prosecutor Graham Blewitt told Hina Wednesday. Blewitt said this ahead of the visit of ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte to Zagreb, where she is to meet Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan to discuss general cooperation issues, including unsolved important demands set by the prosecutor's office, such as access to certain documents and talks to witnesses. He added Croatia had fulfilled about 80-85 percent of the UN war crimes tribunal's demands. Asked to comment on this week's report published in London's "Times" according to which two sealed indictments against senior officers arrived in Zagreb, Blewitt said this was all he could say. He added sealed indictments were to become public only after arrest warrants were carried out. Del Ponte's deputy confirmed that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic would be indicted for crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia within several months, adding it was too early to say whether he would be charged with genocide. He said he would be surprised if Milosevic were indicted for genocide in Croatia. So far, the Hague tribunal has issued several indictments for genocide committed solely in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Commenting on an indictment for crimes committed in the southern Adriatic town of Dubrovnik, Blewitt said the ICTY prosecutor's office had handed arrest warrants to the Belgrade and Podgorica authorities. He added Milosevic's extradition was an encouraging sign that all indictees would be arrested. (hina) it sb