The UN war crimes prosecutor Ms Carla Del Ponte said yesterday that her office had delivered two sealed indictments and arrest warrants to Croatian authorities but they had refused to act on them.
Ms Del Ponte, speaking after talks with the Croatian Prime Minister, Mr Ivica Racan, in the capital, Zagreb, said that the indictments and accompanying arrest warrants for the war crimes suspects had been passed on to the government a month ago.
"Mr Racan has objected to the indictments in written form and I came today to explain why I had to reject his objection," Ms Del Ponte said. "I insist that the Croatian government proceed with the implementation of the arrest warrants."
Several Croatian newspapers speculated this week that indictments were imminent - if not already delivered - against at least two Croatian army generals who took part in the 1991-'95 war against local Serb rebels.
Local analysts believe that pressure has increased on Croatia's reformist government to act on the UN indictments since Serbian authorities handed over the former president Slobodan Milosevic to a UN tribunal last week.