CROATIA CARRYING OUT INVESTIGATION ABOUT NYT ACCUSATIONS

ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - Croatia is carrying out an investigation about allegations published in The New York Times that Croatian authorities stood behind a campaign aimed at intimidating American diplomats and other American representatives in Croatia, a source close to the Croatian Government said Friday. #L# The source said Croatian authorities had been informed through diplomatic courses about the allegations in a NYT article. "An investigation is being carried out," the source said. The New York Times daily on Friday published an article claiming that Croatian authorities were behind a campaign aimed at intimidating American diplomats and others promoting democracy in Croatia, as a response to efforts by the American Government to assist Opposition parties in Croatia. The article states that several apartments of American diplomats and other representatives had been broken into, and a tapping device had been found in the flat of a representative of the US agency for international assistance (USAID). The American Embassy on Friday confirmed the flats of two American diplomats had been broken into. The Embassy said in a statement that it had informed Croatian authorities about the cases and expected the results of an investigation. The American Embassy, however, said it knew nothing about the discovery of a tapping device found in the USAID representative's flat. (hina) lml mm