Croatia is cooperating with the international war crimes court in trying to track down war crimes suspect and former general Ante Gotovina, Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at The Hague tribunal said Monday, according to DPA. "Croatia's government appears to possess the political will to locate, arrest and transfer the fugitive," del Ponte told reporters. "I can confirm that Croatia is responding in a satisfactory manner to all my requests," she underlined. The go-ahead from del Ponte means that E.U. foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg could announce a date for opening membership negotiations with Zagreb. These talks were cancelled in March following a report by del Ponte criticizing Zagreb for failing to hand over Gotovina to The Hague-based tribunal. Del Ponte's statement is also expected to facilitate the opening of entry talks with Turkey later Monday given Austria's insistence that a date for opening discussions with Croatia should be agreed before negotiations start with Turkey. --SP 1804 Local Time 1504 GMT
