USKOK suspects Sanader of abusing his powers in the period from the autumn of 1994 to 22 March 1995, when he negotiated in Zagreb and Austria with Hypo Bank officials a loan for Croatia which, USKOK investigators say, during the 1991-1995 war had problem finding banks willing to give it loans.

USKOK investigators allege that Sanader was paid commission in the amount of at least HRK 3.5 million after the Croatian government and Hypo Bank signed a loan agreement.

Sanader's Zagreb defence attorneys, Goran Suic and Ivan Lovric, said they had no information about the new investigation.

Suic said he hoped that he would have information after he visited his client in a Salzburg prison on Friday.

The two attorneys again expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that they still had not been allowed to see USKOK's file on their client.

The new investigation into Sanader was launched after the prosecutors in Klagenfurt on February 23, acting on the request of Croatia's Chief State Prosecutor, provided documents taken from Hypo Bank on possible abuse of powers during the negotiations on the loan and the conclusion of the loan agreement.

USKOK officials say that inquiries conducted so far provided grounds to suspect that the former PM had abused his powers.

Since Sanader is in extradition custody in Austria, a request was sent to hand Sanader the necessary documents and enable his questioning, as well as to extradite him to Croatia, USKOK said on its web site on Thursday afternoon.

Sanader is already under investigation because USKOK suspects him of abusing his powers as Prime Minister to help Dioki, the company owned by his friend Robert Jezic, to buy cheaper electricity from the state-owned power supplier HEP. In yet another case, he is charged with having conspired with other suspects to syphon money from ministries and public companies.