Croatians support former general

Norac supporters held two days of protests

SPLIT, Croatia -- Thousands of Croatians have held a second day of demonstrations to protest against a war crimes investigation into a former general.

An investigation into Mirko Norac's involvement in a 1991 massacre of Serb civilians in the city of Gospic began last week.

He has not been charged and remains at large, but the investigation sparked protests by army veterans of Croatia's 1991 war for independence and their supporters on Saturday and again on Sunday.

Some 30,000 people -- uniformed war veterans, pensioners, young people and a scattering of nuns and priests -- gathered at the main square in Split.

Some held pictures of Norac and banners declaring: "We all are Mirko Norac." He is regarded by many as a war hero.

People had been brought in by bus from across Croatia to Split, and another demonstration was being held in the eastern town of Osijek.

Organisers, believed to be backed by the main nationalist opposition party HDZ, even hired a state railway train to bring protesters from Zagreb. Buses and cars had brought more people from across the border in Bosnia.

Appealing for calm, Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, the highest moral authority for the predominantly Roman Catholic Croats, urged demonstrators "to remember that problems cannot be solved by violence and threats."

The government suggested earlier this week that Norac was being prevented from giving himself up by those interested in fuelling tensions.

President Stipe Mesic said on Saturday the protests were aimed at destabilising democracy and once again isolating the country from the West.

The rally was the latest confrontation between the one-year-old pro-democracy government and its predecessor -- the nationalist party that ruled Croatia for nearly a decade under the late president, Franjo Tudjman.

Under Tudjman, Croatians were exclusively represented as victims in the Serb-Croat war of 1991 and many people resent the new government's attempts to shed light on possible atrocities committed against Serbs.

Tudjman's party was often accused of condoning Croat war crimes -- a notion that brought the country to the brink of international sanctions.

The new government has reversed that policy and has already opened several probes into Croat war crimes in Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia.

The issue has become the most serious challenge to date for the reformist coalition which ousted the HDZ last year after the death of Tudjman.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Croatian war crimes protest
February 10, 2001
Croats sought for war crimes talks
January 15, 2001

Croatian government

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.