CROATIAN GOVERNMENT NEEDS HEBRANG - PRIME MINISTER

( Editorial: --> 7879 ) ZAGREB, Oct 12 (Hina) - Croatian prime Minister Zlatko Matesa told the Croatian Television on Monday night that the Croatian government needed Defence Minister Andrija Hebrang and still counted on him. Hebrang on Monday tendered his irrefutable resignation to the post of Defence Minister. "We will see the development of events. The resignation was submitted to President Tudjman and he is the only person who can make the final decision," Matesa said. He did not want to comment on the reasons for Hebrang's resignation, but he stressed that the reasons "still allow room for finding solutions which would be in the general interest of Croatia." According to Matesa, consultations about a new defence minister have not begun as yet. (hina) lml 122116 MET oct 98