IT'S TIME TO CLEAR UP ALL CONTROVERSY ABOUT DEFENCE OF VUKOVAR - MINISTER RADOS

VUKOVAR, Sept 23 (Hina) - "It is time for us to clear up all controversy concerning the defence of Vukovar and conflicts polluted by politics, as well as all of its victims and veterans, and remove daily politics, primarily current politics, as far from Vukovar as possible," Croatian Defence Minister Jozo Rados said in the eastern Croatian town on Sunday, at the marking of the 10th anniversary of the 204th Croatian Army Brigade. The surviving soldiers who defended Vukovar from Serb aggression and the families of those killed and missing gathered at the stadium in the town on Sunday to mark the anniversary for the first time since the brigade's establishment. "It is good that associations from Vukovar initiated for the members of the 204th brigade and other defenders of Vukovar to finally gather in one place," the minister in charge of Croatian war veterans, Ivica Pancic, who was also a member of the brigade, said. Comenting on controversy occurring in the media concerning the gathering, minister Pancic said the number of attending veterans showed that "some attempts of politicising the event did not succeed". According to figures issues by local police, there were about 1,200 participants in the event. Around 600 brigade members were killed in 1991 during the Serb attack on the city, while 457 are missing. Seven hundred and seventy (770) were wounded and 1,527 were detained in Serb camps. The first commander of the 204th Vukovar brigade, Mile Dedakovic alias Jastreb, did not attend today's event in Vukovar. At a Vukovar press conference on Saturday, Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) president Anto Djapic labelled the gathering "harmful and ill-advised" because "it could further drive apart the already divided war veterans." Local leaders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) earlier also called on the veterans not to attend the Sunday commemoration. (hina) lml