PARLIAMENT BINDS GOVT. TO GRANT EQUAL RIGHTS TO SICK, WOUNDED VETERANS

ZAGREB, June 28 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament's House of Representatives on Wednesday bound the government to draft an integral bill on veterans' rights as soon as possible, and to motion a bill of amendments to the law on the protection of civil and military war invalids. The Lower House concluded both bills should contain regulations stipulating identical rights for sick and wounded veterans. MPs endorsed a motion by Djurdja Adlesic and Dorica Nikolic of the Croatian Social Liberal Party to rescind a 30-day deadline for establishing the origin of the illness and a five-year deadline for submitting requests to be granted war invalid status. Given that said motion will be incorporated in the new law on veterans' rights, which according to Assistant Veterans' Minister Blazenka Gogic will enter procedure this week, Adlesic and Nikolic abandoned their demand for amendments to the incumbent law. Discussing the motion, Ivica Kostovic of the Croatian Democratic Union accused Veterans' Minister Ivica Pancic of "causing with his statements new psychotraumas among veterans, because he is acting as a politician and not as an expert." The Lower House today adopted the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development's annual financial report for 1999. (hina) ha