Gotovina must stay in Hague before trial-court

Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina will not be allowed to return to Croatia ahead of his war crimes trial in The Hague because of the risk he might flee, the U.N. war crime tribunal ruled on Wednesday.

"The defence has not satisfied the trial chamber that Ante Gotovina will appear for trial if provisionally released," the court said.

In August Gotovina, who has been in detention in The Hague since December 2005, asked to be allowed to await trial under house arrest in Croatia and provided guarantees by the Croatian government that he would return to the court.

Gotovina was arrested in Spain's Canary Islands in 2005 after evading capture since 2001. His capture hastened Croatia's path towards becoming a member of the European Union.

He and two other commanders, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution and murder during a 1995 Croatian military offensive to retake the Krajina region from the Serbs.

A start for the trial has not yet been scheduled.