SPLIT MAYOR REQUESTS DISMISSAL OF MARITIME AFFAIRS MINISTER

SPLIT, Oct 23 (Hina) - The Mayor of Split, Ivan Skaric, a member of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS), told a news conference on Tuesday he had asked his party's leadership to relieve of duty Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications Minister Alojz Tusek for obstructing the implementation of project AFCO. The project involves American investments into the construction of a tourist complex in the centre of Split. Skaric said the city would not give up on the project worth US$500 million, but cannot make one move without the government because Americans are insisting on its consent. Asked whether Prime Minister Ivica Racan had recently announced he would appoint Tusek at the helm of the AFCO project, Skaric affirmed, but said Racan's statement was non-commital. The mayor stressed he would sue Tusek "for his libellous statements published in the Globus weekly and other newspapers". "Because of the number of lies said about me, we shall see in court who is the thief and who is not," Skaric said. The local HSLS branch expelled Minister Tusek from the party at the beginning of the month because he had voted for the extradition of two Croatian generals to the international war crimes tribunal, contrary to the party's decision made at a government session in July. (hina) lml sb