DEFENCE MINISTER HANDS IN IRREVOCABLE RESIGNATION

( Editorial: --> 7757 ) ZAGREB, Oct 12 (Hina) - Croatian Defence Minister Andrija Hebrang on Monday handed President Franjo Tudjman his irrevocable resignation to the office of defence minister, vice president of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and head of the President's doctors' board. "I have decided on this resignation due to the complete loss of trust you have shown me, trust without which it is impossible to perform the stated duties", Hebrang said in his letter to President Tudjman, also delivered to Hina. "It was my wish to take the brilliant war-time organisation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia (MORH) into peace- time, in all fields of everyday activities, according to a comprehensive programme which I suggested and which you approved in May of this year. "In July you did not agree to the replacement of two of eight assistants who, unlike others, even after three months of jointly carrying out complex tasks had not accepted my working methods. You refused the resignation I offered on September 4, 1998, and accepted suggestions on the replacement of two assistants. "Instead, guided by a string of false information which you accepted, on September 22, you appointed a four-member commission composed of my subordinates at the MORH, whose task was to examine my attitude towards the two mentioned assistants. "A week later, on September 29, again on the basis of a string of incorrect information which you had received, you set up a party commission with the task to carry out an investigation into my actions. "I submitted to the examination, but learned about the contents of the accusation only on October 10, at a session of the HDZ National Council. "I rejected the accusation fully and reasonably, as it was absurd and contrary to the fundamental principles of both my life and my nine-year political activity. "By these decisions you have made impossible any further activity of mine, while degrading my party reputation to the lowest possible level. "Two completely unfounded investigations are the result of a long- standing and deliberate campaign, they also insult the dignity of the name I carry, a name which I kept from humiliation even in the more difficult circumstances imposed by the past regime. "Dear Mr. President, without your support all my attempts at carrying out complex and crucial programmes for the state are in vain. I will always respect your historical role in the creation of the Croatian state and the realisation of the dream of our ancestors' generations. "Under your banner, their sacrifices have taken on meaning. I also thank you for helping me embed the happiest nine years of my life into the foundations of the Croatian state. May God help you in telling good from evil", Defence Minister Hebrang concluded in his letter. (hina) ha jn/sp 121610 MET oct 98