PM RACAN LAYS WREATHS IN KNIN ON HOMELAND GRATITUDE DAY

KNIN, Aug 5 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Sunday laid a wreath by the central cross at Knin's cemetery on behalf of the government, as part of the marking of Homeland Gratitude Day, when six years ago today the central town, then the stronghold of Croatian Serb rebellion, was liberated in Operation Storm. Wreaths were then laid by delegations of the war veterans' ministry, the army's third district, Sibenik-Knin County, the town of Knin, and county police. A mass was also celebrated. Later Racan held talks with local officials behind closed doors at the Cesarica cafe. It was said the talks addressed the implementation of conclusions the government adopted at a special March session on areas of special government concern, including Knin. In many cases said conclusions have remained just empty words, according to the local population. An hour before the government and other official delegations laid wreaths at the Knin cemetery, wreaths were laid by delegations of the HVIDR-a disabled war veterans' association, volunteers of the HOS (Croatian Defence Forces), the opposition's Party of Rights (HSP), Split-Dalmatia County, and the strongest opposition party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), with Ivic Pasalic, Vladimir Seks, and Drago Krpina at the helm. The vice-president of HVIDR-a's Knin branch, Ivan Baric, told the government to immediately stop cooperating with the UN's war crimes tribunal at The Hague as the people "will never forgive it if it betrays Croatia." "The Homeland Defence War is sacrosanct and all who smear it have no reason to stay in Croatia," he said. Marko Djapic, the president of HSP's Knin branch, said their wreaths were laid before the official delegations as they did not want to pay hommage to Croatia's liberators "with the partisans." (hina) ha