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http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/08/17/serbia.dos/index.html BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica's party has said it is pulling out of the government of Serbia, according to a statement read on state television. Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia said its two cabinet ministers and all its assistant and deputy ministers would withdraw from the Serb government, state news agency Tanjug said. The party has frequently been at loggerheads with other members of Serbia's ruling 18-party DOS reform alliance. It has most recently been embroiled in a fierce dispute sparked by the killing of a former secret police official. The move by Kostunica's party could lead to early elections 10 months after the reformist coalition ousted Slobodan Milosevic from power. The coalition was formed by parties bidding to unseat Milosevic, who was toppled in a popular uprising last October after he refused to accept he had lost the presidential election. Serbia is the largest of the two republics which make up Yugoslavia. The other is Montenegro. The Associated Press said the statement from Kostunica's party was read on state television. It said the party said it was pulling its ministers from the cabinet because of lack of progress fighting organised crime in Serbia. The move does not automatically cause the collapse of the government, AP said. But the agency said Kostunica's party had threatened to challenge the government's work at an upcoming meeting of the coalition's main politicians and in the Serbian assembly. "The results of the fight against crime ... are very unsatisfactory," the statement said, according to AP. "The Democratic Party of Serbia is no longer ready to take part in the self-deceiving of the government, as well as deceiving of the people. "Such work of the government jeopardised the state interests." The Serbian cabinet is led by Zoran Djindjic, regarded as a rival of Kostunica. The two men were part of the coalition which ousted Milosevic, but have clashed since on a number of issues, including the arrest and extradition of Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Kostunica opposed the move and claimed he knew nothing about it. AP said the two men have also been at odds over the recent killing of a former state security official who was said to be in Kostunica's office hours before he was slain by unknown gunmen. Few details about Momir Gavrilovic's meetings in Kostunica's office were released, but there has been speculation that he was killed so he would not reveal information about state links with organised crime, said the agency. NSP Lista isprobava demokratiju u praksi ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrBE8.bVKZIq Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
