Sarajevo - By handing a 30-day detention to a prominent convicted war criminal Thursday, a Bosnian court came a step closer to eroding a precedent whereby the country's nationals are never extradited.

The convicted man, Branimir Glavas, is still formally a Croatian lawmaker. On Friday, a Croatian court handed him a 10-year sentence for war crimes against Serbs in the
1990s.

Zagreb- Tens of thousands of Croatian teachers ended a strike for a pay hike after a single day of stoppage on Wednesday, following an agreement with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's government, the two sides said Thursday.

Education labour unions went on strike and would have been joined by other public employees Thursday over the decision of the authorities to cut all salaries paid from the budget by 6 per cent.

Sanader's cabinet made the move under the pressure of economic recession. The authorities gave in to the demands only days ahead of Sunday's local elections in the country. (dpa)

Zagreb - Tens of thousands of Croatian teachers embarked on a strike Wednesday after Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's government turned down their demand for a pay increase.

Unions grouping school and university teachers want the government to reverse a 6-per-cent pay reduction introduced in April because of the recession.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament on Monday lifted the immunity of a prominent legislator last week convicted of war crimes against Serbs.

A court in Zagreb on Friday sentenced Branimir Glavas, 52, to 10 years in prison for the murder of Serbs during Croatia's war for independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

A close ally of Croatia's late president Franjo Tudjman, Glavas was the effective ruler of the eastern Croatian city of Osijek during the war, when the murders occurred.

Zagreb- A Croatian politician has fled the country just 24 hours after being handed a 10-year sentence for the murder of Serbs during the 1992-95 war, Croatian media reported Saturday.

Branimir Glavas, who holds dual Croatian and Serb nationality, was convicted Friday, after a marathon 31-month trial, for the torture and murder of Serbs in Osjek in eastern Croatia. He was the first Croatian politician to go on trial for crimes against Serbs.

However, the 52-year old has now left the country, according to both TV and newspaper reports from Zagreb .

Zagreb  - A Croatian court on Friday sentenced a former top politician to 10 years in prison for the murders of Serbs during the country's independence war 18 years ago.

Branimir Glavas, 52, was convicted of the killing of at least 12 Serbs in 1991 and 1992 in Osijek, eastern Croatia, when the city and its surrounding area were under his control.

Zagreb - The Croatian parliament Friday agreed to international arbitration in a border dispute with Slovenia which has blocked its membership talks with the European Union.

An EU member since 2004, Slovenia this year blocked Croatia's accession talks over the dispute dating from the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

With the delay threatening Croatia's accession target date in 2011, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn proposed to resolve the dispute by a five-nation arbitration court.

Zagreb - Croatia begins enforcing a ban on smoking in most indoor areas Wednesday, threatening the estimated one-quarter of its population which lights up with stiff fines.

Smokers caught in cafes, restaurants and bars face a fine of 1,000 kuna (180 dollars), while operators tolerating obstinate smokers may have to pay up to 15,000.

The comprehensive ban sets in as a six-month transition period since the law on smoking was passed expires. Some areas, such as schools and hospitals, were declared smoke-free already last year.

Zagreb - Protests by students in the Croatian capital Zagreb demanding free education spread Thursday to the entire country, local media reported.

Around 1,000 students in Zagreb began demonstrating on Monday demanding free education. On Thursday, hundreds of students in Osijek, Zadar, Rijeka and Split joined the strike.

Zagreb/Ljubljana - Croatia on Thursday welcomed the latest European Union proposal for resolving its ongoing border dispute with Slovenia, while Slovenia said it was still studying the proposal. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has proposed that borders on the sea and land be determined by an international court made up of five judges chosen by Zagreb and Ljubljana, Croatian media reported Thursday.

Zagreb- Croatia has rejected the European Union's offer of mediation between Zagreb and Slovenia in a border dispute that is delaying Croatia's EU accession talks, local media reported on Saturday.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic was quoted by the daily Jutarnji List paper as saying that the offer "made no sense." The refusal of the EU offer would also be approved by Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, the paper said.

Zagreb  - Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday send a note to the British embassy in Zagreb demanding an explanation of the Foreign Office's warning to British citizens to wary of a threat from organized crime in Croatia.

"Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the British embassy in Zagreb to explain such warnings and publish an objective image of Croatia," Croatian foreign affairs ministry spokesman Mario Dragun told the German Press Agency dpa.

Zagreb - In the midsts of the global economic meltdown, tourism-dependent Croatia is anxiously awaiting the first results of the Easter holiday break. With holiday-makers to the former Yugoslav republic providing nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, tourism figures aren't just of interest to the hotel and catering trade - they could well affect the prospects for the government in Zagreb.

Even though first signs show high visitor numbers and packed hotels, any relief is tempered by the knowledge that the year ahead will still be tricky.

Zagreb  - A pair of Croatian hens have laid two very special eggs in time for Easter, local media reported Thursday.

The first, a hen called Mara from the town of Oriol, near the border with Serbia, astonished her owners by laying an egg weighing a whopping 100 grammes.

Her owners say Mara, who herself weighs four kilogrammes, has a reputation for laying double-yoked eggs, but this time has surpassed herself.

Zagreb - A shadowy former Bosnian Croat leader was kidnapped at his home in Zagreb Wednesday and is being held for ransom, media in the region said Thursday.

Croatian Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko confirmed that the one-time member of the Bosnian presidency, Ante Jelavic, was kidnapped, the online edition of the Jutarnji List daily said.

According to media reports quoting family members, the kidnappers called from Bosnia, demanding 1 million euros (1.32 million dollars) to release Jelavic. Police only said they were investigating.

Berlin - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said Wednesday that he would hold fresh talks with Slovenia later this month in a bid to resolve the border dispute between the two neighbours.

The meeting would be with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Sanader told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

The two leaders met recently but failed to achieve a breakthrough on the border issue, which dates back to 1991 when the two republics declared independence from Yugoslavia.

Zagreb - Thousands of German and Croat soldiers captured in the final days of the Second World War were coldly executed and buried in mass graves found in western Croatia, human rights activists said Wednesday in Zagreb, demanding that authorities investigate.

The site at Harmica, 50 kilometres north-west of Zagreb, holds the bodies of 4,500 soldiers, including 450 German army officers, executed by the communist partisans, Ivan Zvonimir Cicak of the Croatian Helsinki Committee told a press conference.

Zagreb - Croatia will temporary suspend visa requirements for some countries in an effort to boost tourism, Croatian Tourism Minister Damir Bajs said Wednesday.

The ministry proposed scrapping visa requirements for Russian and Ukrainian citizens during the summer season, and also for Chinese and Indian citizens, Bajs said.

Zagreb - Croatia is investigating a mass grave of German and local soldiers executed in the wake of World War II, the deputy president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, said Friday.

The site at Harmica, 50 kilometres north-west of Zagreb, on Croatia's border with Slovenia, presumably contains 4,500 bodies of German soldiers, including 450 officers, executed by Yugoslav president Tito's partisans, Cicak told the German Press Agency dpa.

Washington/Brussels - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday formally welcomed Albania and Croatia as fully fledged allies, raising the total number of member states to 28.

"Today, Albania and Croatia have completed the accession process, and have joined the Alliance as members," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a statement.

"I warmly congratulate them on this historic achievement. In becoming NATO members, Albania and Croatia share the benefits and responsibilities of collective security," the alliance's chief said.