ICTY FUGITIVE GOTOVINA ARRESTED

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001930

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE, S/WCI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KAWC PREL HR
SUBJECT: ICTY FUGITIVE GOTOVINA ARRESTED


1. (SBU) According to media reports December 8, Spanish
Authorities on the Canary Islands arrested ICTY Fugitive Ante
Gotovina on December 7. ICTY Head of Office in Croatia
Thomas Osorio confirmed for us that Gotovina had been
arrested. The Croatian State Prosecutor's Office told us
that they expected Gotovina to be extradited to The Hague in
the next 24-48 hours.


2. (SBU) Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic told us that the
arrest was the result of months-long cooperation between
Croatian and Spanish authorities. Bajic said that the
Croatian Intelligence Agency (OA) and Counter Intelligence
Agency (POA) were involved in the effort, together with
officials from the ICTY. Bajic emphasized that this arrest
marked a major step forward for Croatian law enforcement, as
no word of this effort had leaked to the public during the
multi-month operation.


3. (SBU) This information was also confirmed independently by
Croatian intelligence services.
FRANK