ZAGREB, June 20 (Reuters) - Three people, including a former police official, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of committing war crimes against Serb civilians during Croatia's war of independence in the early 1990s, Croatian police said.
"Among the suspects are the former head of the police department in the Sisak county in central Croatia and his deputy," a police spokeswoman said, while declining to release their names.
"Both are arrested for the command responsibility. The third person is charged with personally committing crimes," she added.
Local media have identified the prime suspect as Djuro Brodarac, who was head of police in the central town of Sisak in 1991 and 1992. Serb civilians were reported missing or killed during that period in Sisak county.
Until 1995 Croatia fought a four-year war of independence against rebel Serbs backed and armed by Belgrade.
Zagreb, which has struggled to deal with war crimes committed by its troops and to fully cooperate with the Hague war crimes tribunal, is about to complete European Union entry talks with a view to joining in mid-2013.
The issue of its handling of war crimes is an important part of the requirements for Croatia to be able to join the bloc.
This month it charged a former interior minister assistant with war crimes committed in 1991 in Zagreb and eastern Croatia [ID:nLDE7581G0].
(Reporting by Igor Ilic, edited by Michael Roddy)
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