Zagreb - An infatuated Croatian youth arranged 400 candles in a park in a huge, bright message of love to his girlfriend before authorities snuffed them, the 24sata daily reported Friday.

"Ivana, I love you," pronounced the message, which appeared to float Thursday night in the darkness, with Zagreb's high-rise buildings in the background.

"It wasn't easy. It took us more than two hours to line up the candles and keep them alight," said the author, identified only by his first name, Domagoj.

"When we were close to finishing it, I went to pick Ivana up."

Zagreb - The 6.2 billion kuna (1.2 billion dollars) from the sale of an additional stake of the national oil company INA to the Hungarian MOL were transferred to the Croatian central bank, local reports said Friday.

With the purchase of additional 22 per cent in INA that were held by a war veterans' fund and small shareholders, MOL now holds 47.15 per cent of the firm's capital. The Croatian government holds 44 per cent and more small shareholders the remaining 8.85 per cent.

The Croatian government is currently negotiating a swap of 19 per cent of INA shares for MOL capital, which would allow the expanding Hungarian company a majority share in the Croatian firm.

Zagreb- A former Croatian minister used his official car to drive his pet cat between his apartment in Zagreb and his family home in Osjek, local media reported Wednesday.

Berislav Roncevic, defence minister in the 2003-2007 government, frequently had the animal driven so it could spend the weekend with him and then be returned to the family, weekly Globus reported.

A one-way trip between Zagreb and Osjek, near the border with Serbia, is 260 kilometers, and the former minister's cat clocked up more than 150,000 kilometres using the government automobile.

Zagreb  - Prime Minister Ivo Sanader fired two of his ministers and the police chief in the wake of the latest mafia-style slaying in Croatia, but was still facing nationwide outrage on Tuesday.

A killer, armed with a pistol equipped with a silencer, shot dead Ivana Hodak, 28, daughter of politically prominent parents, in her apartment and then fled. The murder took place in a building in downtown Zagreb, barely 100 metres from police headquarters.

As many times before, a massive manhunt was launched, involving police barricades, commandos with automatic rifles on display and the questioning of some 30 people - but in the end, no arrests.

Zagreb - Croatian Premier Ivo Sanader, shocked by the murder of the daughter of a prominent political couple, Monday evening sacked two ministers and the country's chief of police and declared a war on the mafia.

Sanader said he was sacking Interior Minister Berislav Roncevic and Justice Minister Ana Lovrin and would also fire the chief of police.

His announcement followed the murder earlier in the day of a daughter of prominent lawyer Zvonir Hodak and former deputy premier Ljerka Mintas Hodak in her house in Zagreb.