CROATIAN EMBASSY IN ROME SURPRISED AT CIAMPI'S DECISION

ROME, Oct 24 (Hina) - Croatia's Ambassador to Rome, Drago Kraljevic, will contact the office of Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for additional information on a report saying the Italian president will bestow a decoration on the World War II Italian authorities of Zadar. The report from Trieste's daily Picollo saying Ciampi will confer a decoration on Zadar's WWII Italian government because the city suffered huge damage during shellings by the Allies has come as a surprise to the Croatian Embassy in Rome. The Italian Foreign Ministry has referred Croatian representatives to the office of the Italian president regarding their objection that bestowing a decoration on "Italian" Zadar could have negative diplomatic consequences. The Italian President's press office confirmed the Gold Medal for War Merits, the highest decoration of the Republic of Italy, would be symbolically bestowed on the last Italian government of Zadar. Italian WWII refugees from Zadar will be present at a ceremony scheduled for November 13. This is the first time such a decoration is given to a town outside Italy. Under the Repall Agreement, Zadar was given to Italy after WWI as its 94th province, and in 1947 it became part of Yugoslavia. (hina) sb np