RULING PARTY DISSATISFIED WITH TRIBUNAL'S WORK

( Editorial: --> 2786 ) ZAGREB, March 27 (Hina) - The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Friday expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the international war crimes tribunal. The HDZ is dissatisfied with the work of the tribunal because those chiefly responsible for war crimes have not been arrested, party spokesman Drago Krpina told reporters in Zagreb. It is "compromising" and "most shameful" for the tribunal that three Serbian war criminals directly responsible for the tragedy of Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia, remain free, Krpina said. He added the HDZ is dissatisfied that the majority of those who appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague are Croats and because the work of the tribunal is "unexpectedly slow". Krpina supported the idea that Croatian citizens testify before the ICTY and assist in the punishment of the criminals, as former high official Stipe Mesic recently did. He pointed out, however, that HDZ's "reserve" lay in the fact that Mesic testified secretly "so we have no insight into what he said". The HDZ spokesman believed it would be "immoral" if certain politicians were to testify before the ICTY for interior policy goals. (hina) ha jn /mb 271448 MET mar 98