Josipovic decorates Ganic, Serbia charges him for war crimes

ZAGREB - Ivo Josipovic, outgoing president of Croatia, has decorated Ejup Ganic, member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) war-time presidency, whom Serbia has placed on an international warrant for war crimes.

Presenting the decoration, Josipovic said that he is happy to award an individual who deserves such recognition.

Ganic said at the ceremony that the decoration means a lot to him, noting that he supported Croatia's fight for independence, stressing that Serbia is the destroyer of Yugoslavia and the occupier of BiH.

Ganic said that he does not feel safe to travel to Serbia, noting that Serbia is still the main problem in the Balkans. Ganic added that he supports the stance that Croatia should condition Serbia's EU accession.

Ganic said that the relations between the Bosniak and Croat communities are strong, and that there is no more turbulence between the countries (which fought in a war for over a year during the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia). "We are following the example of Croatia, which is an EU member," Ganic said for TV N1.

The Serbian Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Ejup Ganic over the crimes committed in the attacks in downtown Sarajevo on the building of the Yugoslav People's Army in on May 2, and during the Army's arranged retreat in Dobrovoljacka Street on May 3, 1992.

According to the data of the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska, the attacks on May 2-3 on the military facilities and the retreating convoy claimed the lives of 42 people, leaving 73 injured and 215 people imprisoned.

The attacks targeted soldiers, officers and civilians of different nationalities, the majority of whom were Serbs.

The attacks were carried out by (Muslim) BiH Army and...