Croatian general heads for The Hague

General Ademi says he can prove his innocence

A former general is set to be the first Croatian to appear before the international war crimes tribunal at The Hague after the government named him as one of the country's two indictees.

General Rahim Ademi says he will voluntarily give himself up to the tribunal and is expected to appear there in the next 10 days.

Ante Gotovina is thought to be the other indictee

"The government presented the content of the indictment to Ademi, and suspended the handover procedure to allow him to surrender voluntarily," a government statement said.

The charges against General Ademi have still not been made known.

The issue of war crimes has split public opinion and caused political turmoil in Croatia since Prime Minister Ivica Racan declared his intention to co-operate with the tribunal and extradite the indictees.

Mr Racan faces a vote of no-confidence by parliament on Sunday.

'Innocent'

General Ademi, of ethnic Albanian background, was in charge of Croatia's 1993 operations to recapture areas taken by rebel Serbs.

Observers say that when the Croats later withdrew under a UN-brokered truce, they carried out numerous atrocities.

We can also try to fight for [for our interests] through conflict, isolation, sanctions. But that would be suicidal

Prime Minister Ivica Racan

General Ademi said in an interview earlier this week that he had always respected international conventions and would prove his innocence before the court.

An arrest warrant has been released for the second indictee who has not been named but is widely believed to be General Ante Gotovina.

General Gotovina is also thought to be charged with killing hundreds of Serbs during Croatia's war against the rebels.

Following Croatia's 1991 declaration of independence, Croat forces fought a four-year war with Serb rebels backed by the Yugoslav army.

The Croatian Serbs were pushed out and fled to Serbia and Bosnia.

Prime Minister Racan: Criticised for decision to extradite

This is the first time Croatian officers have been indicted for this war, though Bosnian Croats have been charged over war crimes during the 1992-1995 war over Bosnia.

General Ademi's surrender is expected to ease pressure on the government, which has been criticised by nationalists, particularly members of former President Franjo Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.

They are backing a motion of no-confidence in the government on Sunday which will be preceded by a debate on the war crimes issue.

But Prime Minister Racan insists co-operation with the tribunal is essential for Croatia's future.

"We can fight for our interests and our vision of recent history through co-operation with the court and the world," he said.

"We can also try to fight for it through conflict, isolation, sanctions. But that would be suicidal".