ICTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR MEETS CROATIAN GOVT OFFICIALS

THE HAGUE, Sept 8 (Hina) - A Croatian government delegation started talks with officials of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the ICTY headquarters in The Hague on Friday afternoon. The chairman of the Council for Cooperation with the ICTY and First Deputy Prime Minister, Goran Granic, and Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic first met ICTY Vice-President Florence Mumba and then started a meeting with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte. The ICTY representatives announced the possibility the talks might continue at del Ponte's office on Saturday. The tribunal has announced that it will issue an official statement on the meeting on Saturday. The Croatian government announced the meeting would tackle the "modalities of future cooperation" whereas the spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office, Paul Risley, made a general statement saying del Ponte and Croatian officials would discuss access by the Prosecutor to witnesses and documents in Croatia. The prosecutor in the Kordic-Cerkez case on Thursday warned the judges Croatia had still not submitted to the Prosecution all requested documents concerning the massacre of 100 Muslim civilians in Ahmici in 1993, which is what the indictees are charged with. At a hearing, at which Croatia was represented by the head of the Office for Cooperation with the ICTY, Orsat Miljanic, prosecutor Geoffrey Nice asked that Croatia finally state whether it had the requested documents. The largest part of the hearing, including the presentation of Croatia's arguments, took place behind closed doors. Attending the working meeting with the ICTY representatives at Granic's and Ivanisevic's side were the head of the Office for Cooperation, Orsat Miljanic, and Croatia's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Jaksa Muljacic. (hina) jn rml