Croatian President Stipe Mesic warned Serbia on Wednesday it would be making a mistake if it filed a complaint against his country for alleged ethnic cleansing during the 1991-1995 war.

`It is a mistake,` Mesic told national television, referring to an announcement made Tuesday by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.

Belgrade`s move was a response to a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN`s highest court, that it would hear a Croatian genocide claim against Serbia.

Some 280,000 ethnic Serbs fled Croatia during and after its 1991-1995 war, according to the United Nations. So far some 130,000 of them have returned.

According to the UN war crimes tribunal, some 350 mainly old or ill people -- unable to flee towards Bosnia and Serbia -- were killed by Croat forces during the operation.

The Serbs took flight after Croatia launched a military operation to retake key territory held by rebel Serbs. The operation dubbed Storm practically ended the war that claimed some 20,000 lives.

`Storm... was a legitimate action by the Croatian army and police since all proposals towards (rebel Serbs) to solve the repossession of the Croatian territory through negotiations were not successful,` Mesic said.

Croatia`s proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslav sparked the war with rebel Serbs who opposed he move.

The rebels, militarily and politically backed by Belgrade, occupied one-third Croatia`s territory expelling all non-Serbs.

Croatia lodged a complaint against Serbia, then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), with the ICJ in 1999, claiming `a form of genocide which resulted in large numbers of Croatian citizens being displaced, killed, tortured, or illegally detained.`