PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE HAS NO COMMENT ON PRESIDENT CIAMPI'S DECISION

ZAGREB, Oct 24 (Hina) - The Office of the Croatian President will not comment on the alleged decision made by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to bestow a decoration on the World War II Italian authorities of Zadar until the Italian Ambassador in Zagreb provides an additional explanation as requested by the President's Office, the presidential foreign policy advisor, Tomislav Jukic, said on Wednesday. The Presidential Office asked the Italian Ambassador to Croatia, Fabio Pigliapoco, to contact the authorities in Rome and present additional information about the alleged decision which was first reported by Trieste's daily Piccolo. The Croatian Foreign Ministry also today said it was surprised with Ciampi's decision, saying the attitude towards history as expressed with such a gesture was unacceptable. The Croatian Ambassador to Italy, Drago Kraljevic, will also seek an explanation for Ciampi's decision. The daily Il Piccolo has reported Ciampi would confer a decoration on Zadar's WWII Italian government because the city suffered huge damage during shellings by the Allies. 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) lml sb