Military

DATE=3/12/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-300594

TITLE=SERBIA ASSASSINATION (L)

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=BRUSSELS

CONTENT=

INTRO: Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic has been assassinated. Belgrade Radio reports Mr. Djindjic was hit by two high-caliber bullets as he was standing in the courtyard of the main government building in the Serbian capital. V-O-A's Roger Wilkison reports Mr. Djindjic died of his wounds soon after being taken to a hospital.

TEXT: Belgrade Radio says two people have been arrested in connection with the assassination. But so far they have not been identified.

Diplomats in Belgrade say they believe the killing of Mr. Djindjic is related to his crackdown on corruption and organized crime in Serbia.

The Serbian leader escaped what police believe was another assassination attempt last month. That happened when a truck on a highway leading out of Belgrade suddenly swerved into a convoy of cars, one of which was carrying Mr. Djindjic. The driver of the truck was linked to organized crime groups in suburban Belgrade.

Mr. Djindjic was one of the leaders of the successful drive to oust former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic from power in the year 2000. He also arranged Mr. Milosevic's extradition to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague where the former Yugoslav leader is now on trial.

Despite much public criticism for taking that step, Mr. Djindjic, a pragmatist, argued that Serbia needed to cooperate with the tribunal in order to get much-needed western economic aid.

Mr. Djindjic also spearheaded a drive for economic and political reform in Serbia, which has now united with neighboring Montenegro in a loose federation that replaced what was left of Yugoslavia.

But the coalition of groups that took part in the ouster of Mr.Milosevic has become seriously splintered, and Mr. Djindjic's battle to carry out reforms has been stalled.

Mr. Djindjic was frequently criticized by his opponents and erstwhile allies as being too power-hungry, too willing to ride roughshod over his political rivals and too willing to do the bidding for the West. But the German-educated technocrat was also given credit for his organizational skills and his single-minded determination to integrate Serbia with the rest of Europe.

Mr. Djindjic often argued that he did not like to send Serbs off to the war crimes court, but had to do so in order to lead Serbia out of what he described as the darkness of the Milosevic years. (signed)

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