MESIC: PROPOSITION TO EXPAND MILOSEVIC'S INDICTMENT EXPECTED

ZAGREB, Sept 28 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic stated Friday the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte's proposition to expand the indictment against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to include war crimes committed in Croatia in the 1991-1995 period was expected. "The expansion of the indictment was expected because Milosevic based his Greater Serbia plan on genocide and war crimes. The indictment individualises the guilt, which suits Croatia," President Mesic said in a statement. ICTY Prosecutor Office spokeswoman Florence Hartmann announced today that del Ponte had prepared a document on Milosevic's responsibility for the war in Croatia, which, if approved by judges, would become his indictment. Prime Minister Ivica Racan and heads of parliamentary benches also expressed their satisfaction with del Ponte's proposition. Such a development was expected. Milosevic's Serbia was the aggressor in the war in Croatia and in the name of justice, we have been expecting that what his army did in Croatia would be part of his indictment, Racan said. The Croatian People's Party's (HNS) Vesna Pusic considers the indictment expansion a logical extension of Milosevic's arrest and extradition to the Hague. "It's good news, but late in coming," commented the Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ) Vladimir Seks. Carla del Ponte, as well as her predecessors, already had all the evidence, so it is not clear why all this was not done sooner, he added. Dorica Nikolic of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) also said the expansion of the indictment was expected, because, she said, it had been announced previously. (hina) js