PRESIDENT'S ADVISOR RESPONDS TO SERB NATIONAL PARTY LEADER

ZAGREB, Feb 16 (Hina) - Special advisor to the Croatian President, Djordje Pribicevic, today answered an open letter to President Tudjman, written by SNS (Serbian National Party leader) Milan Djukic, which dealt with the departure of Croatian citizens of Serb nationality after the "Flash" and "Storm" operations. Pribicevic also responded to Djukic's statements at a press conference held earlier in the day. "In your letter you refer to participants in the 'armed' Serb rebellion. Unfortunately, it was an armed rebellion and there are no inverted commas about it," Pribicevic said. A significant number of Croatian Serbs had subscribed to the greater-Serbia plan and raised an armed rebellion against the legitimate Croatian government, he stressed, adding that a large majority of the Serb male population had voluntarily joined the rebellion. The efforts of President Tudjman and other senior Croatian officials to negotiate with rebel Serb leaders and prevent the overt rebellion of a part of Croatian Serbs and later to persuade them to accept the peaceful reintegration, were "of practically no avail," Pribicevic deplored, recalling the adoption of the Croatian Constitution, the Human and Minorities Rights Act and the amnesty granted to all members of rebel Serb units who were not guilty of war crimes. "As for the Erdut Agreement guarantees to Croatian citizens of Serb nationality living in Baranja, eastern Slavonia and Western Srijem, they will be scrupulously observed provided that the other side abides by its obligations under the same Agreement," Pribicevic wrote. Responding to Djukic's objections to the arrest of members of rebel units before the expiry of the deadline specified in the Amnesty Act, Pribicevic said such arrests were "a matter of regular procedure, because the judiciary bodies had to satisfy themselves that the persons in question were not wanted on any war crimes charge." Commenting on the "unusual manner" in which Djukic accused the President of hatred against Serbs, Pribicevic responded that the President had repeatedly stressed the wish that all citizens should enjoy equal treatment. Pribicevic said that war circumstances inevitably led to changes in the ethnic structure of the population, but that it was only one of the many consequences of the aggression against Croatia. He said that Croatia was ready to allow the return, whenever it was justified, of Croatian citizens of Serb nationality who had fled before the "Flash" and "Storm" operations, or to refund the value of their property within the framework of the Yugoslav succession arrangement. "At a press conference held on February 15, 1996, you said that the forces wishing to rehabilitate fascim were growing stronger in Croatia, inhibiting the development of democratic forces. The Republic of Croatia has a democratic Constitutions, and many laws passed in over five years of multi-party system have contributed to adapt our legal system to the system existing in developed western democracies. The free action of some fifty political parties - ten of which are parliamentary parties, including yours - and the full freedom of the press and media, bear witness that our country has a strong democratic system which is not threatened by any totalitarism from the right or from the left. Your fears are therefore unfounded," Pribicevic said. Pribicevic called on Djukic to help his fellow Serbs who live in many Croatian towns and work there as teachers, judges, doctors, engineers, workers and farmers, to accept Croatia as their country and homeland. "I hope that Croats in Yugoslavia and the Bosnian Serb entity will enjoy the same civil and human rights our Constitution grants to Serbs," Pribicevic concluded. (hina) mm as 162157 MET feb 96