STIPETIC PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR INCIDENTS DURING AND AFTER STORM -- DJUKIC

RIJEKA, Aug 11 (Hina) - Although taking into consideration his character and all his abilities, the Serb People's Party (SNS) holds General Petar Stipetic, if not responsible, then partially responsible for the ugly events during and after operations "Storm" and "Flash" because all the time he was part of the military leadership, party president Milan Djukic said in Rijeka Friday. It is also a fact that no Croatian citizen, either Croat or Serb nationality, ever was held responsible for crimes, the thousands missing persons, 40,000 destroyed and looted buildings, Djukic told a news conference. According to him, the burden for the committed is also carried by certain most prominent people of the current Croatian state leadership, including President Mesic -- who knew about the carrying out of the policy of ethnic cleansing, but sent out no warning, due to the so-called protection of national interests. The most responsible for failing to take action are the Social Democratic Party and the Croatian Social Liberal Party, Djukic asserted. Pointing out that the "Storm" liberation operation had in the past few days been dubbed a shining victory, Djukic said it would become more and more clear to the public that that had been a shameful act of the Croatian people, because it would become increasingly clear that there had been no resistance in most towns of the former Krajina, as Serbs and weapons had deserted the area before the start of the operation. Djukic said it would be in the interest of all people that events in relation to Storm be clarified as soon as possible, that collective guilt be removed from the Croatian people and that it be realised that "Storm" had been a shameful, dirty, inter-national war which had been planned and agreed on. SNS president protested about the slow, as he put it, almost non- existent process of return of Serbs to Croatia, which was still the political guideline of the current authorities. (hina) lml