NORAC: I'M PREPARED TO DO YET ANOTHER SACRIFICE

SPLIT, Feb 13 (Hina) - Wednesday's issue of Slobodna Dalmacija daily published an interview with General Mriko Norac headlined "This Rally Has Filled Me With Pride, I Am Ready For Yet Another Sacrifice." According to the daily's editor-in chief, Josip Jovic, who interviewed Norac, the retired general, well disguised during last Sunday's protest rally in Split when he carried a banner saying "I'm Mirko Norac", asked Jovic to make this interview. They held talks in the basement of Diocletian Palace in the immediate vicinity of the site of the rally. "I killed no civilian, nor I ordered it. I had no contact with civilians. I dealt only with defence strategy. It was daily life- and-death struggle and there was no time for giving vent to one's lower instincts," General Norac said in his interview. Asked to comment on accusations against him, he answered he did not know what they were about or who incriminated him. "I can only say that I led the defence of (the central town of) Gospic which was shelled day by day, that we stopped the barbarous aggression of the Chetniks (rebel Serbs) who would stop at nothing," he added. Responding to Jovic's remark that media claimed that some people prevented him from reporting to the police although he would like to do so, Norac said he was ready to appear before a court of the Republic of Croatia any time. "I am prepared to make yet another sacrifice" but let me have a dignified defence without being detained, he said, stressing that he was "after all a general of the Croatian army" who joined the troops which defended the homeland when he was 22 and had no calculations. "I didn't deserve to be detained, prosecuted and handcuffed. I don't want to go to The Hague, as there I have already been proclaimed guilty. (...) The President of the Republic and Premier should declare clearly and in public that I will not be extradited to The Hague (UN war crimes tribunal) and that I will have a dignified defence. I will immediately come before the judicial bodies of our country," the general added. He thanked Slobodna Dalmacija for an objective coverage of his case. Expressing his impression from the Split rally, organised in his support, General Norac said he would never forget the images from the event. He concluded that the people who gathered in downtown Split had been worth fighting for and thanked everybody who joined the protesters, as well as two Roman Catholic dignitaries who encouraged his parents after the arrest warrant was issued. Asked what had spurred the massive rally in Split and if it had been the result of manipulation by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Norac answered that all that had not only been an expression of support to him. He maintained that people's pride had been hurt. After all, people feel attempts are being made to belittle the importance of the last decade of our nation's history, which perhaps was the most famous and fruitful period in recent history, he said, adding that he would like to tell the people not to be discouraged and not to be tricked by provocation. Actions should remain within the Constitution and the democratic right to stage rallies and express one's own opinions, without insults, hindrance of traffic or normal living, Norac said and emphasised in particular that one should avoid physical conflicts. (hina) ms