ZAGREB, Oct 5 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY), Carla Del Ponte, arrives in Croatia for a day-long visit on Monday, three days before she has to submit
her annual report to the UN Security Council.
ZAGREB, Oct 5 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY),
Carla Del Ponte, arrives in Croatia for a day-long visit on Monday,
three days before she has to submit her annual report to the UN
Security Council. #L#
Del Ponte will hold talks with Prime Minister Ivica Racan focusing
on cooperation between Croatia and the tribunal, particularly the
activities Croatia has been undertaking to locate and arrest
General Ante Gotovina, who has been on the run since June 2001, when
the ICTY indicted him for crimes committed during and after
Operation "Storm".
The talks will also be attended by Deputy Prime Minister Goran
Granic, Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic, Chief State
Prosecutor Mladen Bajic, and the head of the Office for Cooperation
with the ICTY, Jaksa Muljacic.
Del Ponte will also meet President Stjepan Mesic and the
ambassadors of the 15 EU member-countries and the United States in
Zagreb.
Relations between the Croatian government and the ICTY have become
deadlocked after the latest contacts regarding the solution of the
Gotovina case. The two sides have completely opposed information on
the whereabouts of the runaway general, with the government
claiming that he is almost definitely hiding in the EU, and the ICTY
claiming that he is in Croatia.
Racan and Granic, the chief coordinator of cooperation between
Croatian institutions and the tribunal, have voiced optimism
regarding the outcome of the talks. A Croatian daily on Sunday
quoted an unnamed senior official who announced "a spectacular
Monday", suggesting the possibility of Gotovina's surrender.
How Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY will be assessed in Del
Ponte's report to the UN Security Council will have a major impact
on Croatia's integration in the EU, both in terms of ratification of
the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and the fulfilment of
political criteria from the European Commission's questionnaire.
(hina) rml