Croatia will whatever it can to co-operate with the UN war crimes court over the case of fugitive general Ante Gotovina, the Croatian foreign ministry said in a letter to the EU presidency. "The government of Croatia will continue vigorously to pursue the resolution of Gotovina's case and will do (its) utmost ... to fully co-operate with (the) ICTY and (its) chief prosecutor in order to have general Gotovina stand trial in The Hague," said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

The letter written by Miomir Zuzul, who was replaced Thursday as foreign minister by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, acknowledged that arresting and transferring Gotovina "remains an unavoidable obligation".

However, he did not promise that Gotovina would be handed over to the court, as the court and EU officials have demanded, before Croatia's EU accession talks are slated to begin on March 17.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005