SARAJEVO, Sept 19 (Hina) - A general of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), Ivan Andabak, is a prime suspect for the assassination of Jozo Leutar, the late Deputy Interior Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Federation, the head of the
UN mission in Bosnia, Jacques Klein said on Tuesday. U.S. diplomat Klein forwarded a statement to the Sarajevo media claiming that Croatia's authorities knew of th course of an investigation in the murder of Deputy Minister Leutar and that they were briefed about this by the authorities of the Bosnian Croat-Moslem Federation. On the basis of this cooperation Croatia's police apprehended Andabak, read Klein's statement. Andabak was nabbed a week ago in Croatia and authorities said he was apprehended on suspicion of smuggling big amounts of cocaine. Klein asserted that other recent arrests of Bosnian Croats were connected with the probe into Leutar's assa
SARAJEVO, Sept 19 (Hina) - A general of the Croatian Defence Council
(HVO), Ivan Andabak, is a prime suspect for the assassination of
Jozo Leutar, the late Deputy Interior Minister of Bosnia-
Herzegovina's Federation, the head of the UN mission in Bosnia,
Jacques Klein said on Tuesday.
U.S. diplomat Klein forwarded a statement to the Sarajevo media
claiming that Croatia's authorities knew of th course of an
investigation in the murder of Deputy Minister Leutar and that they
were briefed about this by the authorities of the Bosnian Croat-
Moslem Federation.
On the basis of this cooperation Croatia's police apprehended
Andabak, read Klein's statement.
Andabak was nabbed a week ago in Croatia and authorities said he was
apprehended on suspicion of smuggling big amounts of cocaine.
Klein asserted that other recent arrests of Bosnian Croats were
connected with the probe into Leutar's assassination.
I am glad that the Bosnian Federation's Interior Ministry had in
recent weeks arrested several persons suspected of having planned
or carried out terrorist acts, including the assassination of Jozo
Leutar, read Klein's statement.
He recalled that recently Dominik Ilijasevic alias Como had been
arrested in Kiseljak, Zoran Basic alias Solo in Posusje and
Leutar's driver Zeljko Cosic near the border crossing of Doljani.
The UN mission's head openly accused Croat officials in the federal
interior ministry of impeding the probe in Leutar's killing.
It is sad to know that efforts to clarify this case would have taken
incomparably less time since the beginning of the investigation if
responsible senior Croat officials in the Interior Ministry and
elsewhere had not obstructed the bids. Owing to the fact that the
leadership of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ
BiH) and Croat officials in the federal ministry continued to
hinder justice and owing to a lack of cooperation between cantonal
police in relation of other indictments including the "Mostar Five"
and the "Stolac Seven", this investigation has been conducted in
the greatest secrecy, with consent and support of the international
community, Klein wrote.
Jozo Leutar lost his life in an explosion of a car-bomb in Sarajevo
in the mid-March 1999.
Klein said that information offered by citizens on the special
telephone line with the International Police Task Force (IPTF) had
significantly helped. The investigation into the Leutar case is
still under way and a court will soon give its stand on the matter.
Court proceedings will carefully be supervised so that any
political influence could be eliminated, Klein added.
At the end of his statement the UN representative concluded that the
investigation in Leutar's assassination was not directed against
anybody or against any ethnic community. Its purpose has been to
find out criminals, as terrorism and assassination being crimes
against all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina must not remain
unsolved.
(hina) ms