World Bank Delays Croatia Loan

The United States has won a delay of a $30 million World Bank loan to Croatia because of that country’s failure to bring war criminals to justice and help refugees return, the State Department said Wednesday.

The development loan was to have been approved today under an expedited procedure. But State Department spokesman John Dinger said the full World Bank board had agreed to review the loan and will not take up the matter until next week at the earliest.

The United States accuses Croatia of failing to live up to terms of the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

Under the agreement, neighboring Croatia and Serbia were to hand over to the international war crimes tribunal all suspects, to repatriate refugees and allow freedom of movement for all.