ICTY-CROATIA TALKS ESTABLISH PROCEDURES TO STEP UP ONGOING CASES

THE HAGUE, Sept 9 (Hina) - A two-day working meeting representatives of the Croatian government held with The Hague war crimes tribunal chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte established procedures which should step up ongoing court proceedings and investigations, the tribunal said in a statement on Saturday. Both the Office of the Prosecutor and the Croatian delegation agreed the meeting marked a step forward in issues which were not fully settled. This primarily refers to the prosecutor's access to witnesses in Croatia, and the production of documents the prosecutor requests. In recent months, prosecutors with UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia missed no opportunity to praise Croatia's intensified cooperation with The Hague-based tribunal, always pointing out, however, that they were not satisfied with access to witnesses and the speed whereby all requested documents were being delivered. In the statement issued after talks with the Croatian delegation, chief prosecutor del Ponte said the talks "usefully summarised certain difficulties being faced by the Croatian Government in responding to outstanding orders and requests," and that it was explained how Croatia could respond to same. "We cleared the position of documents referring to Bosnia- Herzegovina in relation to those referring to Croatia, and agreed on the procedure concerning witnesses," said Croatia's First Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic, who believes the talks "eliminated at least one part of the misunderstanding between the Office of the Prosecutor and Croatia." Granic said the talks were an opportunity to make a "complete revision of Croatia's relationship with The Hague tribunal," and that discussions were "substantial and not protocol-like." In the future, meetings of this kind will be held every two to three months to "analyse problems and what has been done," Granic said. (hina) ha