Milosevic Extradition: Govt. under threat as PM quits

BELGRADE (YUGOSLAVIA), JUNE 30. Yugoslavia's Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Zizic, resigned and thousands of angry supporters of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic rallied on Friday to protest the former President's handover to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal.

The resignations of Mr. Zizic and other former Montenegrin allies of Mr. Milosevic hastened the imminent collapse of the Government and threatened to lead to a split between Yugoslavia's two remaining republics, Serbia and the much smaller Montenegro. About 6,000 supporters of Mr. Milosevic, some shouting ``treason!'' and ``let's rise up!'' massed in front of Belgrade's Federal Parliament to protest the Serbian Government decision to surrender the former President. ``This is outrage. This is banditry. This is a blatant violation of all laws,'' said Mr. Miodrag Sekulic (56), a retired teacher from Belgrade and a staunch Milosevic supporter, as he painted a fresh banner saying: ``We will arrest the traitors.''

The ultranationalist Radical Party leader, Mr. Vojislav Seselj, said, ``in the whole of Serbia's history, it never had such ruling traitors.'' He appealed to the army and police ``to prevent the future handover of our heroes to The Hague,'' promising ``a fierce and relentless battle'' against current Government officials.

The political resignations, however, meant the collapse of the Cabinet, which is made up of Serbia's pro- democracy officials and Ministers from Montenegro.

The Yugoslav President, Mr. Vojislav Kostounica, can now propose a new Prime Minister, but if that is rejected in Parliament, he would have to call new Federal elections.

Mr. Kostounica met army leaders to discuss the mounting tensions. A terse statement after the talks said the crisis ``must be resolved by political means.'' Mr. Zizic said he resigned because of the ``hasty and tactless decision'' to hand Mr. Milosevic over to the tribunal. ``The price was beyond any dignity. I cannot accept this in my name and in my people's name, and therefore, I resign from the post of Federal Prime Minister,'' he said. Mr. Milosevic was handed over by the Serbian Government, which ignored a Federal Constitutional Court ruling that banned his extradition.

Calling the handover of Mr. Milosevic a ``turning point,'' the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Ms Carla Del Ponte, said the Kosovo indictment against the former Yugoslav President would be expanded and that other war crimes suspects must be brought to justice. His lawyer, Mr. Branimir Gugl, said Mr. Milosevic called his family from the tribunal's prison to proclaim his innocence on charges of crimes against humanity in Kosovo and to say he was ``fine and healthy.''

``In the phone call from jail, he said he was kidnapped'' when taken from Belgrade's Central Prison, Mr. Gugl said.

Mr. Kostounica - a staunch opponent of The Hague tribunal - had described the Serbian Government's unilateral move to hand Mr. Milosevic over as ``illegal and unconstitutional,'' saying the extradition was carried out without respect for legal procedure.

The Serbian Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Djindjic, who pushed through the extradition, said Yugoslavia had no choice but to surrender Mr. Milosevic or face international isolation and the loss of much-needed foreign aid.

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Section  : International
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