BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor with the Hague war crimes tribunal, Carla del Ponte, and the ambassadors of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) noted at their meeting in Brussels on Wednesday that the Croatian
government was determined to resolve the issue of fugitive General Ante Gotovina and thus achieve full cooperation with the U.N. tribunal.
BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor with the Hague war
crimes tribunal, Carla del Ponte, and the ambassadors of the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) noted at their meeting in
Brussels on Wednesday that the Croatian government was determined to
resolve the issue of fugitive General Ante Gotovina and thus achieve
full cooperation with the U.N. tribunal.#L#
NATO spokesman James Apparthurai said Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop
Sheffer had pointed at the meeting that the Croatian government was
determined to resolve the Gotovina issue.
The spokesman stressed categorically that full cooperation between the
states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and the Hague
tribunal was the first condition for their rapprochement with NATO,
which he said meant membership in the Alliance for Croatia and in
NATO's Partnership for Peace programme for Serbia-Montenegro and
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Appathurai said the Secretary-General had firmly vowed NATO would
support the Hague tribunal as much as possible.
Croatian Ambassador to NATO Anton Tus said in his address at the
meeting that Croatia cooperated with the tribunal fully and
unreservedly, citing as examples the hand-over of documents,
interviews with witnesses and suspects, and investigations.
The only cause for concern is the case of retired general Gotovina,
Tus said, adding that Croatia was taking every step to resolve the
issue.
He said Croatia would not let the case pose a hurdle either to its
Euro-Atlantic integration or to the successful work of the Hague
tribunal.
United States Ambassador Nicholas Burns said the Croatian statement
was very encouraging, according to diplomatic sources.
They said del Ponte had spoken about Croatia at the meeting briefly
and very positively. According to them, she stressed that democracy,
judicial independence and cooperation with the Hague tribunal were
equally important terms for all, and said that Croatia's government
had fully understood that and wanted to cooperate. Del Ponte said she
expected all issues regarding Croatia to be resolved quickly and
efficiently, including the Gotovina issue, and pledged the tribunal's
Office of the Prosecutor would fully cooperate, the sources added.
According to them, Del Ponte said the Office of the Prosecutor was
working on 10 indictments but did not say the number of the accused.
The chief prosecutor said that 21 of the accused were on the run,
including 15 in Serbia, and underlined that among them were Ratko
Mladic and, as of last week, Radovan Karadzic, the sources said.
The diplomatic sources went on to say that del Ponte had been
extremely critical of Serbia-Montenegro, saying that cooperation with
this country was frozen and that war criminals there enjoyed the
support of the army, the police as well as of political and clerical
circles.
Del Ponte said cooperation with the Bosnian Serb entity was
nonexistent and that authorities there had not extradited anyone to
the Hague tribunal, the diplomatic sources said. They added she had
called on the international community's High Representative in Bosnia,
Paddy Ashdown, to take measures against all harbourers of war
criminals.
The chief prosecutor announced that 12 indictments would be turned
over to the Bosnian State Court's war crimes department, the
diplomatic sources said.
(Hina) ha sb