HVO VETERANS HOLD TALKS WITH WORLD FEDERATION PRESIDENT

SARAJEVO, Sept 14 (Hina) - President of the World federation of veterans, Serge Wourgaft, and president of the Herzeg-Bosnian Association of Volunteers and Veterans of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) of the Homeland War, Staff Brigadier Miro Grabovac- Titan held talks in Sarajevo on Tuesday about the association's request that the Federation defend Croats from unfounded accusations before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The Association recently wrote to the World Veterans' Federation to influence the Tribunal to withdraw the request for the extradition of Mladen Naletilic Tuta to The Hague and to defend Croats from further unfounded accusations. They also requested that those responsible for crimes against the Croat people in Bosnia- Herzegovina be brought to justice. According to an ICTY indictment, between April 1993 and January 1994, when he was the commander of the so-called convicts' brigade, Naletilic committed crimes against humanity, as well as serious violations of the Geneva Conventions and the law or customs of war in the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The talks also focused on a conference on peace scheduled to take place in Sarajevo this December. Grabovac stressed the holding of the conference was in question should Croats continue to constantly be extradited to the ICTY instead of those who had committed crimes against the Croat people. (hina) lml