CRO JUSTICE MINISTER REQUESTS BLEWITT'S RESIGNATION

ZAGREB, Dec 3 (Hina) - Croatia has requested of UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan and the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, to dismiss ICTY deputy prosecutor Graham Blewitt for his impermissible statements about Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, Croatian Justice Minister Zvonimir Separovic told Friday's news conference. "Yesterday we sent a letter to ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte ... and today we wrote the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan .. and we requested that they dismiss the chief prosecutor's deputy," Separovic said. He added he held the chances for Blewitt's resignation were not great because the issue is in the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, but stressed that Croatia has a moral right to ask for his dismissal. "Blewitt could at least apologise to the Croatian public and president Tudjman," Separovic said. He stressed it was "a moral obligation to send these letters because Blewitt uttered an impermissible claim that after the death of president Tudjman Croatia's cooperation with the tribunal would be established". (hina) lml