General's arrest 'good news'

2005-12-09 13:37

Zagreb - Croatian newspapers have hailed the arrest of former general Ante Gotovina, apprehended in the Spanish Canary Islands on Wednesday night.

Gotovina is one of the United Nations war crimes court's top suspects but is seen as a hero by many in the Balkan country.

"The arrest of Gotovina is good news for both Croatia and general Gotovina," wrote Globus columnist Jelena Lovric.

"It is good for the general since he will finally be able to solve his case before a court and that is the only place where he can do that."

Photos of Gotovina, taken on his arrest, made the front pages of all the Croatian dailies on Friday.

'The best thing for Croatia'

All the papers dedicated several pages to the former general's case, giving the chronology of the events since he was indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in mid-2001, his biography and reactions to his arrest.

The Jutarnji List independent daily said the arrest was "the best thing for Croatia".

It noted the chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal, Carla Del Ponte, had repeatedly accused Zagreb of sheltering Gotovina and failing to fully co-operate with The Hague-based tribunal.

The Jutarnji List commentator, Davor Butkovic, said: "With the arrest of Ante Gotovina in Spain the stigma of sheltering one of the world's most wanted fugitives was eventually removed from Croatia."

The Globus newspaper made its position on Gotovani clear: "Fleeing the law does not correspond to his reputation of a great warrior, it rather reflects cowardice.

"The news is good for Croatia not because it will pave the way for Nato or make negotiations on membership in the European Union easier.

"The news is good because it shows that Croatia is becoming more and more a serious country ready to fully apply European standards."

On the run

Gotovina had been on the run for 1 613 days - since July 2001, when the UN tribunal indicted him for atrocities against ethnic Serbs in the Serbo-Croatian war.

The case has delayed Croatia's EU entry talks by seven months because Brussels has been dissatisfied with the level of co-operation in tracking down the ex-general.

Gotovani is the general who led a key 1995 military operation that practically ended the war of independence from the former Yugoslavia, and as such enjoys widespread popularity at home.

Gotovani will be transferred from Spain to the UN war crimes court in The Netherlands within days.

- AFP