HEAD OF JERUSALEM SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE WRITES TO GRANIC

( Editorial: --> 3408 ) JERUSALEM, May 12 (Hina) - We welcome Croatia's quick reaction to our request for Zagreb to ask for the extradition of the former Jasenovac concentration camp commander Dinko Sakic, the Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem, Ephraim Zuroff, said in a letter sent to Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic. Zuroff expressed hope that Granic's visit to Israel would contribute to the development of bilateral relations between Croatia and Israel and improve relations between Croats and Jews. It is exactly because of this that Croatia's response in the Sakic case was a positive step Israel welcomes, the letter reads. Sakic is not the only World War II criminal who committed crimes in Croatia and was not punished for those crimes, Zuroff further says. That is why we ask you to use your visit to Israel to show the readiness of your Government to fully investigate Ustashe crimes committed during World War II so that perpetrators could be brought to justice, Zuroff says. The first step in that direction would be the arrest of the former Ustashe official Ivo Rojnica, who is allegedly currently in Zagreb. Ivo Rojnica played an active part in the persecution of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies in the area of Dubrovnik, Zuroff says adding that Rojnica's arrest would mean that Croatia is serious in its intention to sincerely face its past. Justice is the key word for future relations between our two peoples, Zuroff says at the end of the letter stressing the importance of educating the young generations about the horrors of the Holocaust. Ivo Rojnica was without doubt an Ustashe commander in Dubrovnik at the beginning of World War II, Granic told Croatian and Israeli reporters adding there is no evidence on Rojnica having committed war crimes. Zuroff's letter will be considered and replied to, Granic said adding that all those who committed war crimes should be tried. (hina) rm 122235 MET may 98