PARLIAMENT ON RELATIONS WITH HAGUE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS FRIDAY

ZAGREB, July 11 (Hina) - Parliament should hold a closed-door session on Croatia's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal on Friday, deputy speaker Mato Arlovic said on Wednesday but could not confirm if Prime Minister Ivica Racan would attend. Racan should tell the session, convened at the request of the opposition's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), if the latest Hague indictments contain unacceptable political evaluations of the 1990s Homeland Defence War. Arlovic is confident parliament's committees will manage to prepare a session for Friday. He confirmed the session would be attended by representatives of the government. The session should end with a set of conclusions that will be presented in the form of a press release or news conference. It remains unclear how parliament will debate the issue given that speaker Zlatko Tomic has pointed out the two indictments are sealed and secret, which precludes public discussion of the names on and content of the indictments. Otherwise, there are sanctions. Parliament will also discuss a HDZ motion for holding a referendum based on the signatures of 400,000 voters which have been collected by a national headquarters for the protection of the dignity of the Homeland Defence War. Citizens should decide if Croatian war veterans will have the same judicial treatment as all WW2 victorious armies. The government's decision of Saturday to act in line with the Hague requests and hand over persons on the latest indictments was not made unanimously. One minister from the Social Liberals (HSLS) voted against it, while two abstained. The other 19 ministers voted for the decision. Due to moral qualms about the stances of the government and their party, four HSLS ministers tendered their resignations, which prompted the prime minister to request parliament for a vote of confidence in the incumbent government. Parliament will take the vote on Sunday. (hina) ha sb