Zagreb-based Vjesnik quotes the prime minister as saying that the arrest vindicates Croatia, which had always maintained that Gotovina was not in the country.
In the short term, though, Mr Sanader will have to resolve the problem of Ante Gotovina, a Croatian general indicted by the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Croatia has also been promised it can begin negotiations as soon as it locates fugitive General Ante Gotovina, indicted for war crimes by the international criminal tribunal in The Hague.
"Gotovina has been a victim of manipulation" both by the left and the right, it continues, adding that Gotovina's erstwhile protectors have suddenly woken up to "the rule of law".
Under the headline "Gotovina - a Christmas bonus" - playing the pun on Gotovina's surname which also means cash - the paper says the arrest comes as a gift for the Christmas stockings of UN prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.