PRIME MINISTER SAYS PROTESTS ARE ATTACK ON CROATIA STATE

ZAGREB, Feb 10 (Hina) - Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Saturday it was the government's duty to protect the independence of the judiciary. Addressing a Social Democratic Party Head Committee session in connection with the current protests against an arrest warrant issued after Mirko Norac, a retired general suspected of war crimes, Racan said Croatia would resolve the problem to its advantage, otherwise it would show it was incapable of being a law- based state and wanted a conflict with the international community.#L# "Many resisted the prosecution of war crimes outside of Croatia, and are now saying no to the possibility that the Croatian judiciary assume that role, thus hugely damaging Croatia," said Racan. "Together we will make a successful evaluation of the circumstances, the course and character of the Homeland Defence War, including mitigating circumstances for those who committed a war crime, but extremists won't allow this either," he added. The prime minister sees the ongoing peaceful protests against the Norac arrest warrant as an attack on the Croatian state. "A state in which the protection of the constitutional order is not allowed is not really a state." Racan is hopeful Croatia is strong enough to deal with the current problems. "The preservation of Croatia as a democratic and law- based state is a task the democratically elected authority has and must not forget," he said. The prime minister said there was no danger that anyone undermine the civic right to stage peaceful protests. "The citizens have to be enabled to voice their discontent with government policy, but at the same time we also have to ensure the protection of normal state functioning and citizens' safety," he said. The government will prepare a report on the damage the current protests are causing Croatia and present it to the public, Racan announced. (hina) ha sb