Croatia Issues Urgent U.N. Appeal, Detains Hard-Line Opponent

The secessionist Croatian government issued an urgent appeal Friday for U.N. peacekeepers to halt a new federal army offensive and tried to quell internal dissent by detaining a leading nationalist opponent.

The moves indicated that the government of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman is hard-pressed both internally and on the battlefield after the weekend loss of the Danube River city of Vukovar, its worst military defeat in five months of fighting.

Lord Carrington, the European Community’s special representative to Yugoslavia, arrived unexpectedly in Belgrade, the Serbian and federal capital. The purpose of his mission was not immediately known.

Heavy battles were reported Friday around Osijek, capital of the republic’s eastern region of Slavonia, where Serbian-dominated forces reportedly have massed. Croatian media said 77 wounded people were taken to Osijek’s hospital in a 24-hour period.

With the fall of Vukovar, federal troops and Serbian militants gained control of a slice of eastern Croatia along the Danube. The capture of Osijek and Vinkovci, another eastern Croatian stronghold to the south, would ensure domination of a much broader swath.

Tudjman charged that Croatia’s rival, Serbia, is playing for time in negotiations over U.N. peacekeeping forces.

He appealed for the immediate dispatch of U.N. forces to his republic.

Croatia’s ultra-nationalist Party of Rights has been harshly critical of Tudjman because of the loss of territory. Party members say he has been too willing to compromise.

Marijan Pedisic, head of the investigation department of Zagreb County Court, said the party’s leader, Dobroslav Paraga, and aide Milan Vukovic were arrested on Friday on suspicion of plotting an armed rebellion.

The Croatian Defense Units, the military wing of Paraga’s party, were a key element in the defense of Vukovar. Their strong showing on the battlefield has won them popular support, and some of that has improved Paraga’s marginal political standing.