VETERANS' MINISTER: I EXPECTED LOW TURNOUT AT FRIDAY PROTEST RALLY

BIZOVAC, Nov 25 (Hina) - Croatian Homeland War Veterans' Minister Ivica Pancic said on Saturday he had not expected Friday's protest rally of the Headquarters for the Protection of the Dignity of the Homeland Defence War to pass off "any differently that it did." Despite announcements by the headquarters that it would gather tens of thousands of protesters from all over Croatia, only about 500 protesters appeared at the rally. "It has been confirmed once again that those who organised it (the rally) live comfortably and have the time to stage protests, unlike many who did not come because they have to think about their survival," Pancic told Hina in Bizovac near the eastern town of Osijek, where he attended a conference of an alliance of associations gathering the families of missing and imprisoned Croatian soldiers. Commenting on the failure of Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica to apologise to the Croatian people, Pancic said he had not expected Kostunica to make an apology. "I did not expect it, and it is not important either. More important than words are deeds, and the establishment of relations with Yugoslavia means primarily enabling Croatian parents and war victims to find out the truth about their dearest ones," he said. (hina) rml