CROsco earned certification from Bureau Veritas Quality International 

Attention Business Editors: 
Crosco Earns ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001

ZAGREB, CROATIA, Jan. 22 /CNW/ - Crosco Integrated Drilling & Well
Services Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that the company's Environmental
Management System and Occupational Health and Safety Management System has
recently earned certification from Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI)
to ISO 14001:1996 and OHSAS 18001:1999 standards, respectfully. During 2003,
Crosco's Quality Management System will be audited according to the new
demands of ISO 9001:2000. The company's Quality Management System is already
implemented and certified in accordance to ISO 9001:1994. All three of the
mentioned management systems are certified by BVQI for the full array of
Crosco's services as follows: Drilling and Well Services, Well Design,
Engineering and Maintenance of Equipment in the Oil and Gas Industry and
Geoservices.
Crosco's President and C.E.O., Marin Koceic, stated: "Earning ISO 14001
and OHSAS 18001 certification reinforces Crosco's commitment to business
excellence. To ensure dedication to our clients and their goals Crosco has
previously also implemented the SAP R/3 Management Information System and a
near-miss policy."
Crosco is an integrated onshore and offshore drilling and well services
contractor. The company has a fleet of more than 50 modern drilling, workover,
and geoservice rigs as well as one semisubmersible and one jackup. Crosco is
also 50% owner of Noble Crosco Drilling Ltd., which is the operator and owner
of a jackup rig. In addition, with state-of-the-art western equipment, Crosco
provides the following services: Well Testing, Coil Tubing, Nitrogen,
Cementing, Stimulation, Logging, Mud (Drilling Fluid), Coring, Fishing and
Directional Drilling.
Crosco has been providing services internationally since 1958 and has
provided services in 25 countries for some of the world's most recognized oil
companies. The company has ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification
from Bureau Veritas Quality International London and is a member of the
International Association of Drilling Contractors and the International Well
Control Forum. Crosco has an average annual revenue surpassing US$110 million.
The company's headquarters are located in Zagreb, Croatia.

For further information: please visit Crosco's web site: 
http://www.crosco.com  or contact E-mail:marketing.crosco@crosco.hinet.hr. 
Please visit our web site regularly for updates and news about our company and 
services.

The Two Towers opened in Croatia on Jan 16, 

grossing $231,230 from 18 screens

Op-ed
This is not an information on business, but a valid data on how Croatian made films do have potential to be commercially successful.
NB

Jeremy Kay in Los Angeles 22 January 2003

New Line International's The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers scored the biggest bow of all time in Italy over the weekend as it opened on a staggering $9.4m. The second installment of Peter Jackson's J R R Tolkien adaptation averaged $11,773 from 800 screens after opening on Jan 17, a Friday. The amount is roughly 19% higher than the opening weekend for The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Opening in the Czech Republic on Jan 16 the picture grossed $545,478 from 35 screens for a $15,585 average. This was a 49% increase on the first instalment. The Two Towers also opened in Croatia on Jan 16, grossing $231,230 from 18 screens for a $12,846 average. Results for the four days in the territory were a mighty 88% ahead of Fellowship.

To date the picture has grossed $390.2m at the international box office.

New Line International's The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers scored the biggest bow of all time in Italy over the weekend as it opened on a staggering $9.4m. The second instalment of Peter Jackson's J R R Tolkien adaptation averaged $11,773 from 800 screens after opening on Jan 17, a Friday. The amount is roughly 19% higher than the opening weekend for the first part, The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Opening in the Czech Republic on Jan 16 the picture grossed $545,478 from 35 screens for a $15,585 average. This was a 49% increase on the first instalment. The Two Towers also opened in Croatia on Jan 16, grossing $231,230 from 18 screens for a $12,846 average. Results for the four days in the territory were a mighty 88% ahead of Fellowship. To date the picture has grossed $390.2m at the international box office.

"Serving My Country - CroatiaRediviva"

Highly recommended: - a new book "Serving My Country - Croatia Rediviva"
by Hrvoje Kacic, written in English. 

Mr Kacic is a lawyer and professor of Shipping Law with a Ph.D. in
Maritime Law who served as an internationally recognized Maritime law
expert in many national and international Maritime Departments,
Conferences and Conventions. He was elected President of the Committee
for Foreign Relations in the first Croatian Parliament (Sabor) in 1990.
With his extensive experience in politics, national and international,
and personal meetings with important persons and Institutions of the
Western European and American scene from the EU, the USA and NATO, before
and during the war against Croatia, he has presented in this book facts,
reports, information, and letters and addresses by individuals during the
course of crucial developments in the area of former Yugoslavia. Some of
these are known to many Croatians, there are others that are astonishing
eye-openers. 

Since Dr. Kacic is a native of Dubrovnik, much of his material concerns
the attacks on his city, but it is also this city's destruction that
finally made the international community decide to recognize Croatia as
an independent state, in the hope of stopping the war. While not
overlooking the suffering of all other areas in Croatia, he shows how
Vukovar and Dubrovnik "top right and bottom left" illustrate the human
and cultural catastrophes and the sheer courage of the citizenry. 


This book should be read by every English-speaking Croatian and
individual Croatian Societies should endeavor to send it to their
Congressmen, Senators and Washington politicians. It will serve to stop
any future revision of history. 

The book is available at the cost of $20.00, including shipping, from
CNA (Croatian National Association c/o N. Hazdovac, 777 W. 9th St. San
Pedro, CA 90731, e-mail Dubrovnik5@aol.com  

Ivica and Janica Kostelic on the podium again

Sweden's Anja Paerson, center, winner of aWorld Cup women's giant slalom, celebrates on the podium with second placedJanica Kostelic of Croatia, left, and third placed Karen Putzer of Italy, inCortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2003. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Italy's Giorgio Rocca, center, winner of a World cup men'sslalom, celebrates on the podium with second placed Akira Sasaki of Japan, left,and third placed Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday Jan.19, 2003. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Japan's Akira Sasaki, left, and Croatia's IvicaKostelic smile in the finish area after completing a World cup men's slalom inWengen, Switzerland, Sunday Jan. 19, 2003. Sasaki finished in second place asKostelic clinched third place. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Dijaspora je danas jos vise izolirana od Hrvatske

RAZGOVOR prof. Niko SOLJAK, PREDSJEDNIK INTERNACIONALNOG KLUBA
HRVATSKIH ISELJENIKA, POVRATNIKA I INVESTITORA

Dijaspora je danas jos vise izolirana od Hrvatske

Hrvatska dijaspora od Vlade i Hrvatskog sabora trazi donosenje zakona o dijaspori po uzoru na Irsku i Izrael, uvodjenje ministarstva za dijasporu, zastupljenost dijaspore u Vijecu HRT-a s tri clana, a u Hrvatskom saboru s 12 zastupnika, obustavu prodaje nacionalne imovine dok se ne donese novi zakon o privatizaciji, zabranu prodaje zemljista uz more i druge povrsine uz turisticke objekte te njegovo davanje u najam odnosno koristenje, donosenje zakona kojim kriminal u pretvorbi ne zastarijeva, smanjenje sudske takse, iznalazenje nacina povrata novca, izmedju 20 i 30 milijardi dolara, koji je iznesen iz Hrvatske u zadnjih 12 godina uz koristenje autoriteta Predsjednika RH koji je u predizbornoj kampanji obecao da ce Hrvatska znati sama vratiti taj novac, te izvjesce o novcu hrvatske dijaspore utrosenom u stvaranje i obranu Hrvatske...

To su tek neki od zahtjeva Prvog sabora hrvatske dijaspore, odrzanog ljetos u Porecu u organizaciji tamosnjeg Internacionalnog kluba hrvatskih iseljenika, povratnika i investitora iz dijaspore. Trazeci odgovor na pitanje je li se bar koji od njihovih zahtjeva ostvario, razgovaramo za Slobodnu Dalmaciju s predsjednikom tog kluba prof. Nikom Soljakom.

- Kada biste snagu Kluba izrazili clanstvom, kakva bi ona bila?

Ona se ne moze izraziti kvantitativno, vec samo i iskljucivo kvalitativno buduci su nasi predstavnici "ambasadori" hrvatske intelektualne "kreme" diljem svijeta. Takvi intelektualni i moralni autoriteti hrvatske dijaspore kroz sva razdoblja svog zivota i rada u iseljenistvu, od stvaranja Hrvatske do danas, ostali su vjerni svojim principima i idealima.

- Hocete reci kako iseljenici nisu skretali ni lijevo ni desno?

Da, jer njih ne zanimaju ni stranka, ni stranacke aktivnosti, nego boljitak hrvatske drzave i hrvatskog naroda. I na tom su planu voljni dati sve od sebe. No cesto se povlace kada vide i osjete da ih se u Hrvatskoj ne uvazava vec dozivljava stranim i nepozeljnim tijelom. Pritom oni dozivljavaju razocaranje kada osjete nemogucnost postenog i korektnog ulaganja u svoju zemlju.

- Koji je cilj Kluba osim postati spona izmedju iseljene i domovinske Hrvatske?

Nas program je vrlo obiman i slojevit. Jedan od prioritetnih zadataka je objedinjavanje dijaspore u zemljama gdje zive i rade, u cilju prevladavanja njihovih medjusobnih podjela. A, na zalost, te podjele medju hrvatskim narodom prisutne su i u Hrvatskoj. Dijaspora je prijasnjih godina bila vezana uz HDZ, koji je jedini pridonio organiziranju hrvatske dijaspore u svijetu. Njihovi ideali su iz raznih razloga razbijeni jer je hrvatska drzava u medjuvremenu opljackana, nacionalno bogatstvo rastoceno, poduzeca upropastena, sirok narodni sloj osiromasen, uzak krug neposteno obogacen, tako da medju nasim iseljenicima vlada velika podijeljenost, nepovjerenje pa i antagonizmi.

- Koliko Klub moze realno pomoci ujedinjavanju takve, kako rekoste, razjedinjene hrvatske dijaspore?

Pokusavamo unutar pojedinih drzava stvoriti i postici to jedinstvo dijaspore da oni medjusobno pocnu kontaktirati, suradjivati i da donesu bar jedan dio konsenzusa odluka o tome kakvu Hrvatsku zele i sto oni mogu uciniti i napraviti da nam zaista bude bolje. Na tom putu valjalo bi postici minimum zajednistva s Vladom RH . Fali nam jedinstven i slozan pristup tom pitanju, kako u zemlji tako i u svijetu.

- Nakon sto je HDZ dijelom iskoristio dijasporu za pojedinacna i stranacka bogacenja, ova koalicijska vlast i dalje ignorira nase iseljenistvo, kao da se boji njezina utjecaja i moguceg veceg participiranja u zivotu i radu na svim razinama i sferama djelovanja i stvaralastva u zemlji? Kako to komentirate?

Pod vodstvom HDZ-a i Tudjmana, to treba priznati i ne zaboraviti, dobili smo samostalnu Hrvatsku, i ne slazem se da je u tom razdoblju iskoristena hrvatska dijaspora. Ona je bila svjesna da ima obvezu i zelju pomoci u radjanju i stvaranju svoje drzave, kao sto se i na referendumu za samostalnu Hrvatsku, a protiv ondasnje Jugoslavije, izjasnilo 94 posto hrvatskog zivlja. HDZ je uspio organizirati dijasporu, uz pomoc njezina novca organizirati prikupljanje oruzja za obranu RH, ali pritom nije nista radio na buducnosti stabilnog pravnog i moralnog sustava koji je trebao zamijeniti komunizam. Dijaspora se osjetila izigranom jer smo dobili siromasnu, nestabilnu i nesigurnu drzavu bogatih pojedinaca.

Promjenom vlasti i dolaskom koalicijske, dijaspora je dosla u jos gori i nepovoljniji polozaj, jer su izgubljeni kontakti stvoreni u vrijeme HDZ-a, tako da je ona danas odvojena i izolirana od Vlade i drzave. Ocekivalo se da ce ta nova vlast prihvatiti dijasporu, koristiti njezine potencijale, kako intelektualne, obrazovne, materijalne i njezine usluge poput lobiranja u svijetu u korist Hrvatske. No, na zalost to se nije dogodilo.

- Na Prvom saboru istaknuto je kako u svijetu danas zivi oko 2 milijuna Hrvata, kako je Hrvatsku u zadnjih 12 godina napustilo oko 400 tisuca obrazovanih mladih ljudi, te kako je nashvatljivo da i ova vlast takav golemi znanstveni i intelektualni te financijski potencijal ignorira. Sto bi trebalo uciniti?

Pogledajte Irsku i Izrael, danas jedne od najbogatijih zemalja. Te su zemlje donijele zakone o dijaspori, stvorile maksimalne uvjete za povratak i financiranje svoje dijaspore. Hrvati su u tudjim zemljama danas afirmirani i cijenjeni strucnjaci, vrhunski intelektualci i znanstvenici te predstavljaju intelektualnu elitu u stranom svijetu. Njihovo znanje, ugled, veze, novac treba iskoristiti za razvoj i boljitak Hrvatske i sviju nas. Treba prvo donijeti Zakon o dijaspori koji ce omoguciti povratak nasim iseljenicima, zatim im omoguciti da sudjeluju u Hrvatskom saboru kroz svoje predstavnike, osigurati im bolje i povoljnije radne i profitabilne uvjete nego sto ih imaju u drugim zemljama, zbog cega ce sigurno biti zainteresirani vratiti se u svoju domovinu. -

Vas se Klub cesto javlja priopcenjima kojima kritizirate rad Vlade, zelite sprijeciti daljnju rasprodaju "obiteljskog srebra", nastojite ojacati utjecaj dijaspore u Hrvatskoj, itd. Kakav je uopce ucinak tih vasih reagiranja?

Pa ima ih, i to konkretnih. Trazili smo smanjenje sudske takse, i to je postignuto. Zahtijevali smo stopiranje prodaje tzv. turistickog zemljista, trazeci da se ono daje u zakup ili u koncesiju, sto su i sudovi prihvatili odbijajuci uknjizbu turistickih tvrtki kao vlasnika tog zemljista. Nesto se ipak dogadja.

- I na kraju, kako se Klub financira?

Nikako, svatko trosi svoj novac i svoje vrijeme sa zeljom da nesto dobro i vrijedno napravi za Hrvatsku. Od Vladina Ureda za udruge svake godine trazimo pomoc, no ni kune nam nisu odobrili, sto ne cudi budcci je sluzbena politika barem ove Vlade da nas ne treba financirati, vec "sasjeci u korijenu". Ni od Istarske zupanije nismo dobili ni lipu pomoci, jedino nam je Grad Porec lani dodijelio tisucu kuna. To je sve posljedica nerazumijevanja neznanja i nedostatka dobre volje da se saslusa druga strana.

To nas, medutim, nije pokolebalo u daljnjem radu, a poglavito nije obeshrabrilo vodece hrvatske intelektualne i znanstvene autoritete u svijetu, poput prof. dr. Dolinara, dr. Paune, i dr. Jelineka iz Svicarske, dr. Billa i gospodina Covica iz Njemacke, gospode Valcica, Berama i Vugrincica iz Australije, dr. Tomica i dr. Jolica iz Kanade, dr. Kraljica iz Amerike, i brojnih drugih koji redovito daju svoj dragocjen i nemjerljiv doprinos. Te "ambasadore" Hrvatske u svijetu nista ne moze u tome pokolebati.

Pise Branka ZUZIC 

Nismo Racanova "produzena ruka"

- Nedavno se kanadska hrvatska zajednica oglasila priopcenjem kojim Vam osporavaju pravo na predstavljanje hrvatske dijaspore, inputirajuci vam da ste "novokomponirani" klub star samo dvije godine, pritom Vama osobno zamjerajuci da ste samo godinu dana boravili u inozemstvu, sto Vam ne daje legitimitet za predstavljanje hrvatske dijaspore koja desetljecima zivi s novim generacijama izvan Hrvatske. Kako to pojasnjavate?

U tim napadima zrcali se hrvatski usud. Mnogi misle da sve pocinje samo od njih, a sve sto je od drugih ne valja i ne vrijedi. Znate vec dobro pricu o hrvatskom jalu. Nas klub nadzivjet ce nas i nove generacije, jer siri jednu hvalevrijednu i nuznu ideju o povezanosti Hrvatske i njezine dijaspore, nikoga ne iskljucuje i svakome otvara prostor suradnje radi veceg zajednistva. Treba vidjeti iz kojeg dijela kanadske zajednice Hrvata dolaze te reakcije. Spomenut cu izvrsnu suradnju s nasim predstavnikom iz Kanade Rudijem Tomicem, jednim od vecih kanadskih intelektualaca, zatim s Ivom Jolicem, urednikom iz Radio-Toronta, i brojnim drugima.

- Pripisivalo Vam se cak da je Klub produzena Racanova ruka, zar ne?

I to Vam govori u prilog duboke i tragicne hrvatske podijeljenosti. Kamo srece da smo produzena ruka vlasti u Hrvatskoj! Mi stalno trazimo kontakte s vlascu koju su legalno izabrali na izborima hrvatski narod i gradjani, radi pronalaska modus vivendi za opce dobro Hrvatske i njezina naroda, kako bi nam sutra svima bila bolje. Stoga i od ove vlasti trazimo vece postovanje i uvazavanje dijaspore i njezin veci doprinos u stvaranju njezina zajednistva. Pri tom naglasavam kako ja ne predstavljam Klub, vec ga u najboljem svjetlu, kao i njegov program, predstavljaju vodeci hrvatski intelektualci u Svicarskoj, Kanadi, Njemackoj, Cileu, Argentini, Australiji i drugdje. Mi nismo niciji zastupnici, vec zelimo artikulirati interese i potrebe hrvatske dijaspore prema Vladi, trazeci od nje da se konacno odredi spram iseljene Hrvatske, na obostranu korist i zadovoljstvo.

(c) Sva prava pridrzana: SLOBODNA DALMACIJA, 1999-2002. 

Stephen Schwartz on Konjic's crime

Below is an article written by Stephen Schwartz which appeared in the Daily Standard, a web publication of the Weekly Standard and concerns the murders in Konjic. Both Ante Cuvalo and the NFCA are mentioned in the article.

A Crime in Bosnia 
The problem isn't local savagery or Islamic intolerance, it's Saudi money and Wahhabism. 
by Stephen Schwartz 
01/16/2003

THE WORD Konjic, pronounced "Konyitz," means "the little horse" in Bosnian, and the Bosnian town of Konjic, set among green mountains and virgin forests in the valley of the river Neretva, was one of the loveliest I had ever seen, when I first visited it in 1991. I was riding a bus from Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian coast to Sarajevo, when three teenaged girls came aboard, heading a little way up the road. They were beautiful, wearing headscarves, and one of them sat next to me. I asked her, in my halting Slavic (more Russian than anything else, then), the name of the place, and her voice was divine as she said, "Konjic." I spoke no more, and, of course, never saw her again. Later I supposed they must have been Muslim girls, and I mourned when I heard that terrible massacres had taken place in the town at the onset of the Bosnian war, the following year. 

After the war, I began traveling regularly through Konjic, by car and bus as well as by train; the Bosnian rail system switches coaches there, and as an old railroader myself I was impressed, if negatively, to see the macho way the Bosnians worked coupling cars together, standing between the tracks in total disregard of their personal safety. Communism--protector of the workers, I thought bitterly. But there were other sources of sadness as well. Passing through so many times, I couldn't miss the broken minaret on one of the mosques, ruined by shell-fire. It's been a long time rebuilding, but that is another story. 

The Konjic countryside is still gorgeous. But on Christmas eve, less than a month ago, the horrors of the Bosnian war returned there. Three Croat Catholics, Andjelko Andjelic, 65, and his daughters Mara, 46, and Zorica, 27, were slaughtered in the nearby village of Kostajnica. A son, 30-year old Marinko, was seriously wounded. The family had been attacked by gunfire while putting up Christmas decorations. 

The victims were former refugees, who had returned to their homes, among many urged to do so by the international authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The perpetrator was caught and confessed without remorse. He was Muamar Topalovic, a 25-year-old Muslim from the region. 

Unfortunately, the atrocities visited on the Andjelic family have proven unworthy of major attention by global media. Foreign observers will predictably fall into two groups: those who say all Bosnians are savages capable of living together, and those who say all Muslims are monsters unwilling to live with non-Muslims. Both would be wrong. The blood of the victims cries out for justice. But the finger of guilt points away from poor, suffering, martyred Bosnia--straight to Saudi Arabia and its worldwide network of extremists, adherents of the Wahhabi sect of Islam. 

Topalovic, the killer, himself admitted membership in two Islamic extremist groups, both of them funded by Riyadh. They are the Active Muslim Youth, known by its Bosnian initials as AIO, and Jamaat al-Furqan, or the Community of Selection. In traditional Bosnian communities, Muslims join their Christian neighbors in celebrating Christmas and Christians and Jews join the Muslims in festivities at the end of Ramadan. But the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance has another vision for Muslims in Europe, America, and around the world. The three Croats slain in an obscure Bosnian village join the dead of September 11, of the Bali and Kenya bombings, and of all the other criminal acts carried out as a central element of Saudi international policy. 

Dr. Ante Cuvalo, an outstanding historian and advocate for Bosnian Croats, has accurately identified the problem. In recent attacks by Muslims on Croat Catholics, he writes, "in every case there is a Middle Eastern, mainly Saudi Arabian, connection. Under the cover of 'humanitarianism' the local Muslims are being 'converted' to the Saudi version of Islam, that teaches them that Bosnia is the land of Islam and for the Muslims only." 

Islamophobes in the West may disagree, and wish to argue that all Muslims think this way, but Dr. Cuvalo knows better, since he has lived the Bosnian experience himself. He is also unafraid to say that some blame must be assigned to the United States, which has hesitated to "offend the Saudi rulers" by pressing a cleanup of Saudi charities and similar operations throughout the world. Furthermore, while Dr. Cuvalo notes that the Islamic leadership in Bosnia-Herzegovina has protested against the intrusion of Wahhabism into the country, it has not done enough to root it out and to defend an Islam that respects other faiths. 

Similarly, John Kraljic, president of the National Federation of Croatian Americans, sent a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell two weeks ago. He pointed out that "Saudi Arabia has been spending large sums of money to promote its brand of Islam and culture which is alien to Bosnia and Herzegovina." He warned that this is "detrimental to the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a mainstream European state." 

To their considerable credit, Bosnian Muslim journalists have taken the lead in exposing the Saudi hand in such terrorist acts. Mirsad Fazlic, writing in the weekly Slobodna Bosna (Free Bosnia), traced the history of the Active Islamic Youth (AIO), to which the murderer was affiliated. AIO has a single goal: spreading Wahhabism, in such a way that its members oppose not only the laws and constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the established Islamic community structure. I personally witnessed AIO's intrusion into Bosnian solidarity activities for Chechnya, in 2000. 

Financing of AIO has involved the Saudi High Commission for Relief to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the al-Haramain Foundation, and the al-Taiba Foundation, which came to Bosnia-Herzegovina promising to rebuild minarets and mosques like that in Konjic, but which have been identified with terrorist funding and cover. The Saudi High Commission office in Sarajevo was raided by the Bosnian authorities in early 2002, and a rich trove of evidence against Wahhabi-Saudi agents, taken in that action, has been turned over to Attorney General John Ashcroft. Bosnian police also raided seven al-Haramain offices, seizing evidence of major involvement in the funding of al Qaeda. On March 11, 2002, then-Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, with the acquiescence of the Saudis themselves, froze financial operations by al-Haramain's branches in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Somalia. Al-Haramain's Sarajevo office had come under the control of the terrorist Gamaa al-Islamiyya, or Egyptian Islamic Group, which spawned the "mad doctor" Ayman al-Zawahiri, chief assistant of Osama bin Laden, and murdered 62 people, 58 of them foreign tourists, at Luxor in 1997. 

Saudi-based al-Haramain reportedly gave AIO some $55,000 from January 1999 to September 2001, but $400,000 more was funneled to the organization through Kuwait. Its ally, Jamaat al-Furqan, received $60,000 of al-Haramain's largesse between 1998 and 2002. When Bosnian financial authorities demanded to review AIO and al-Furqan's account books, they were told none existed. The groups were given seven days to produce authentic accounts, and claimed to have done so, although there are indications the books were cooked, or, rather cooked up quickly. 

No state action, whether by Bosnia-Herzegovina, the United States, or Saudi Arabia, can return the three dead from the Andjelic family to life. But for the real friends of the Bosnian Muslims, among whom I cede position to nobody, these incidents must be a summons to action. The U.S. government must be pressed on these issues: We must compel the Saudis not only to cut off funding for the international spread of Wahhabism, but to identify, arrest, and punish, or hand over to foreign courts, active agents of this pernicious ideology. The dead of Kostajnica remind us of our own American dead; we cannot leave a hole in our history involving Saudi involvement in September 11. Saudi Arabia still owes us a full and transparent accounting of the involvement of their subjects, however high in the monarchy, in the terror inflicted on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania 16 months ago. We cannot escape this responsibility, nor can they. 

Stephen Schwartz is the author of The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud From Tradition to Terror, and senior policy analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. 

John Peter Kraljic

John Peter Kraljic s parents hail from the area ofRijeka, Croatia. Mr. Kraljic completed Georgetown University Law Center inWashington, D.C. in 1987. He has been active in a number of Croatian Americanorganizations and his activities included volunteer work for the Missions ofCroatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations. Mr. Kraljic sinterests include the study of Croatian and Croatian-American history. He hasserved as President of the National Federation ofCroatian Americans since 2001.

Your Letters

Hello Nenad,
Would you post the following for me in a future edition of Crown?

****
A couple of weeks ago I wrote asking for your help as my husband and I plan our first trip to Croatia. I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to respond to us. We received many wonderful emails full of fantastic information, travel tips and stories! One thing is for sure - Croatia is a well lovedcountry, and we are so excited about our trip! I can't thank everyone enough for their help.
Best wishes,
Nancy De Waard
*****

Thanks Nenad!
Nancy
patandnan@prodigy.net  

Op-ed

Thank you for your kind interest in our country and I thank all of you who sogenerously responded to Nancy's request.
best,
Nenad