ZAGREB, Oct 6 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte, confirmed in Zagreb on Monday that Croatia had fulfilled all the requirements for the handover of
documents, but stressed that the case of General Ante Gotovina remained a big problem. She called on the fugitive general to turn himself in to the tribunal in the interests of his country.
ZAGREB, Oct 6 (Hina) - The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based UN
war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte,
confirmed in Zagreb on Monday that Croatia had fulfilled all the
requirements for the handover of documents, but stressed that the
case of General Ante Gotovina remained a big problem. She called on
the fugitive general to turn himself in to the tribunal in the
interests of his country. #L#
I can confirm that we have received all the documents we have
requested from Croatia, although it took more than 12 months for
some to be delivered. We can say that Croatia is helping us, Del
Ponte told reporters after two-hour talks with Prime Minister Ivica
Racan and his associates.
Speaking of General Gotovina, the chief prosecutor said that he
remained "a big problem for Croatia" and "a double obligation for
the international community" to arrest him and transfer him to the
tribunal in The Hague because of the commitment to cooperate and the
fact that he was mentioned in a UN Security Council resolution in
August.
Del Ponte said if Gotovina was "really close to the welfare of
Croatia," he would surrender voluntarily, and the prosecutor urged
him to do so.
"I'm inviting former general Gotovina to surrender immediately to
The Hague for his nation, for his country, for Croatia," she said.
The prosecutor avoided directly responding to the question whether
her report to the Security Council on October 9 would be positive or
negative for Croatia, saying that she would report on Croatia's
good cooperation in meeting the requirements of the office of the
prosecutor, but also that she would present the facts in connection
with the Gotovina case.
She did not explicitly say that Croatia was not cooperating in
efforts to resolve the case nor did she insist on her previous
claims that the runaway general was hiding in Croatia.
I did not come here for Prime Minister Racan to convince me that
Gotovina is not in Croatia. I came to share my information about
Gotovina's whereabouts so that we can coordinate our efforts to
resolve the problem, Del Ponte said.
She added that another 29 requests for the delivery of documents
were sent last week, expressing hope that they would be provided
quickly and efficiently.
Prime Minister Racan confirmed that cooperation between Croatia
and the tribunal was successful and that it would continue so in the
future.
Racan agreed that the Gotovina case was not solved, but added that
his government was aware of its commitments and would comply with
them, and that it wanted to cooperate with anyone who could help
resolve the problem.
"Many in Croatia will agree that it would be historically tragic if
Croatia became hostage to this unresolved case," the prime minister
said.
Racan stressed that Croatian authorities were ready to arrest
Gotovina regardless of whether he was in Croatia or abroad, in
cooperation with anyone who could help.
(hina) vm sb