Croatia has issued an international arrestwarrant for a former defence minister who commanded the Yugoslav armyduring Croatia'swar of independence in the 1990s, state radio said on Thursday.

Croatianpolice issued the warrant for Veljko Kadijevic, a retired general who has threewar crimes indictments issued by local courts against him. 

"We donot know his whereabouts, hence the international warrant, but we expect allInterpol members to act upon it," Dubravko Novak, a police chief, said.

Kadijevic,an ethnic Serb from Croatia,was Yugoslavia'slast defence minister. 

The postgranted him effective command of the army in the Yugoslav federation, whichcrumbled after Sloveniaand Croatiaseceded in 1991.

He isnow believed to be living in the US.

Charges

CroatianSerbs, armed and backed by Belgrade,opposed independence and created their own state in a war that killed anddisplaced thousands of people.

Theconflict ended when a Croatian army crushed the rebellion in 1995.

Kadijevicis charged with responsibility for shelling civilian targets in theeastern Slavonia region, which borders Serbia.

He is alsocharged over atrocities committed by the Yugoslav army and Serbparamilitaries in the town of Vukovar,which they captured after a three-month siege in November 1991.

The Vukovarcounty court, which first indicted Kadijevic in 2002, reopened the case aftermedia reported he had moved to the United States and wasworking as an adviser to the USarmy.

A court innearby Osijek also indictedhim.

The UN warcrimes tribunal in The Hague,which deals with Yugoslav atrocities, charged six Yugoslav army officers forwar crimes in Croatiabut never indicted Kadijevic.

Source:Agencies