ICTY CHIEF PROSECUTOR HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE

THE HAGUE, Sept 30 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal was completely independent and would not allow her work to be influenced by political reasons, but should be pragmatic and use the favourable political atmosphere which would contribute to the achievement of the Tribunal's goals, Canadian Judge Louise Arbour, successor to Richard Goldstone as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) told a press conference in The Hague on Monday. Louise Arbour was appointed chief prosecutor of ICTY by the Security Council on 29 February 1996, and her office starts on Tuesday. She pointed out that the main responsibility for the arrest of persons accused of war crimes did not lay on IFOR, but on the countries on whose territories these persons were. (hina) ha jn 301914 MET sep 96