INT. AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MEMBERS' VIEWS DIFFER ON SESSION OUTCOME

( Editorial: --> 8104 ) ZAGREB, Oct 13 (Hina) - The Croatian Sabor's (Parliament) Lower House Committee for Internal Affairs and National Security on Tuesday concluded its discussion of the alleged misuse of intelligence-security services, however committee members have varying opinions on the outcome of the discussion. Committee Chairman Ivan Milas (a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ), on Tuesday told journalists that the committee had not found that there had been any misuse of the Defence Ministry's intelligence-security service during the recent political quarrel between high ranking state officials. Milas advised that this decision was adopted by a majority vote in the committee (6 in favour) taken while all the committee members were still present at the meeting (including opposition members). Four opposition members however, later stated that the vote on the committee's decision was actually taken after they had departed the meeting. The Lower House's Committee for internal affairs and national security on Monday and Tuesday were meeting to investigate the alleged claim made by the recently resigned presidential Chief-of- Staff Hrvoje Sarinic and a presidential advisor Franjo Greguric. The two had made claims in the media about the alleged political misuse of the intelligence service. On Monday, the Committee heard statements by Sarinic and Greguric as well as another presidential advisor Ivic Pasalic and assistant defence minister Markica Rebic. It is these officials that Sarinic accused of participating in the misuse of the security service. In contradiction to Milas's statements about the conclusions brought by the Committee, opposition members state that they left the meeting immediately after a request to see the documents referred to during yesterday's hearing, was rejected. Social Democratic Party's (SDP) Antun Vujic proposed that the Committee be given all the documents referred to in the recent statements made by Sarinic and Greguric and then discussed by the Committee. This proposal was rejected by a majority vote (6 in favour and 4 against). This is the vote taken before the one which Milas refers to as being the committee's conclusion to the two-day discussion, opposition members said. Antun Vujic and the three remaining Opposition MP's on the Committee; Croatian Social Liberal Party's (HSLS) Jozo Rados, Croatian Peasant Party's (HSS) Zlatko Tomcic and Istrian Democratic Alliance's Damir Kajin handed in their resignations to their membership of the Committee, Rados said. Milas was first to speak to journalists and once again repeated that the opposition members were present in the hall when the meeting's conclusion was being adopted. The conclusion determined that there had not been any misuse of intelligence-security services during the recent political conflicts between high ranking state officials. Milas said that this in fact concluded the meeting. All four opposition members emphasised that the testimonies given by Sarinic, Greguric, Pasalic and Rebic were not sufficient to indicate whether in fact intelligence services had been misused nor that it had overstepped its authority. It was then requested that the documents referred to in the investigation should be presented to the Committee including the recent report written by the Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS) and the Office for National Security (UNS). HSLS's Jozo Rados said that the Lower House's Committee was not convened with the intent of parliamentary supervision of the legality of the activities of the UNS but rather to prevent the parliament's supervision of the UNS and other intelligence services. Opposition members stressed that the said reports, which are apparently confidential, should never have been allowed to be reviewed and discussed by the HDZ's National Council yet they cannot be submitted to the parliamentary Committee. Asked about which documents they were talking about, Zlatko Tomcic of the HSS said he could not speak about it because of the secrecy in which the Committee session had been held. Damir Kajin (IDS) said it was about a HIS report signed by Miroslav Separovic, a UNS report signed by Ivan Jarnjak and a report by the Defence Ministry signed by Andrija Hebrang, and a number of other documents mentioned at the Committee session on Monday. Vladimir Seks of the HDZ told reporters that, based on the Committee's conclusion, a Parliamentary investigative commission will not be established and assigned to the case. Seks said the head of the Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS), Miroslav Separovic, attended Saturday's session of the HDZ's National Council as a member of the party's Head Committee, and spoke about the conclusion of the HIS investigation. Nobody mentioned any information that were qualified as a military, state or official secret, he said. The conclusion from the session was in principle identical with the conclusion reached by the Internal Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Seks said nothing had been misused nor any laws broken at the HDZ National Council session, nor was the Parliament side-stepped. Commenting on the resignations of the Committee's opposition members, Seks said he did not believe this to be the beginning of a crisis in Parliament. Antun Vujic and Ivica Racan (SDP) said a crisis issue had been opened concerning the work of the Parliament. The opposition will know how to respond in the case of a hindrance to the discussion on a motion on the establishment of an investigating commission, they said. The Committee session on Tuesday was attended by ten members of the opposition - one less than on Monday. Marko Veselica, a member of the Croatian Christian Democratic Party (HKDU) did not attend the session on Tuesday. The Internal Affairs Committee numbers 13 members. Ivic Pasalic (HDZ) did not attend either days of the session so as not to influence the result of the discussion, and Ivo Lozancic had resigned from his MP duty, and did not attend either sessions. (hina) sp jn lml 132119 MET oct 98