Sackings by Croatian PM signal crackdown on mafia

CROATIA:CROATIA'S PRIME minister has sacked three top security officials and vowed to crack down on organised crime, after the latest lurid attack to mar the country's image as it bids to become the next member of the European Union.

Ivo Sanader has replaced his interior minister, justice minister and chief of police after Ivana Hodak (26) was shot dead in the stairwell of her apartment block in central Zagreb on Monday.

Ms Hodak's father is a prominent lawyer, who is defending a former army general extradited from Austria last week on suspicion of stealing some €3.6 million in diamonds during Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence from Yugoslavia.

Her murder shocked Croatia and particularly residents of Zagreb, where a wave of brazen and brutal attacks have raised fears that organised crime groups could damage the country's drive to join the EU by 2011. In recent months, three men - a reporter who investigated mafia groups, a local politician and a leading businessman - were severely beaten in Zagreb, leading to accusations that the authorities were unable or unwilling to fight crime.

Journalists and human rights activists held a rally last month to protest against deteriorating security and the failure of the police to end mob-style assaults in the capital. No one has been charged over the recent attacks.

"We are committed to an unrelenting struggle against organised crime, against the mafia," said Mr Sanader. Brussels has told Croatia to crack down on corruption and organised crime before it joins the EU and it has frozen hundreds of millions of euros in funding to new member Bulgaria for its failure to fight graft and destroy powerful mafia networks.

"This is a move that he should have made earlier, but it shows that Sanader really intends to turn Croatia into a normal country, in which government agencies will be independent and professional," analyst Davor Gjenero said of the new appointments.

"They are the best people this country has for the job, but equally important is the fact that Sanader publicly said it is time for open war on the mafia."

The new interior minister will be Tomislav Karamarko, now head of the intelligence service. Former diplomat and law professor Ivan Simonovic will become justice minister and veteran police officer Vladimir Faber the new police chief.