12 March 2003 Afternoon Edition

· Serbian prime minister assassinated outside government building in (AP)

· Serbian premier assassinated (BBC)

· Serb PM shot dead in Belgrade (CNN)

· Serbian PM assassinated (CNN)

· Serbiens Ministerpräsident stirbt bei Attentat (DW)

· Serbiens Ministerpräsident erliegt Attentat (NZZ)

· Blessé dans une fusillade, le premier ministre de Serbie serait mort
(Le Monde)

· 4TH LEAD: Serbian P.M. Djindjic assassinated (dpa)

· Obituary: Zoran Djindjic (BBC)

· Ferrero-Waldner ``deeply shocked'' at Djindjic assassination (dpa)

· EU expresses shock at Djindjic assassination (AP)

· US government shocked, grieved (Tanjug)

· Covic confirms death of Premier Zoran Djindjic (Tanjug)

· Serbia: Djindjic Assassinated In Belgrade (RFL)

· PROFILE: Serbian P.M. Djindjic falls victim to old ways in Serbia (dpa)

· Serbian government proposes state of emergency (dpa)

· Youthful, determined, Djindjic personified Serbia's chances for (AP)

Serbian prime minister assassinated outside government building in

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) _ Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic _ a key leader of the revolt that toppled former President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000 _ was assassinated Wednesday by gunmen who ambushed him outside the government complex, police sources said.

Djindjic died of his wounds in a Belgrade hospital after having been shot in the abdomen and back, the sources told The Associated Press. Witnesses said two suspects were arrested.

Sources from Djindjic's Cabinet told the AP earlier that Djindjic sustained two shots in his stomach and back, and that doctors had been ``fighting for his life'' in Belgrade's emergency hospital.

A emergency ward doctor said later that Djindjic underwent surgery, was on life support and might not survive. The hospital was blocked by a large number of police officers, and Djindjic's sobbing wife, Ruzica, was seen led away from the hospital building.

Two people were arrested and one was injured in the shooting, witnesses said.

The government building where Djindjic was ambushed was sealed off by heavy state security, and three ambulances were parked in front. Machine gun-toting police in bulletproof vests stopped traffic in downtown Belgrade, searching through cars and checking passengers.

The government met Wednesday afternoon in emergency session. All bus, rail and plane traffic from Belgrade was halted as police _ unsure whether the suspects they arrested were the gunmen _ cast a wide net for the assassins.

Djindjic, 50, appeared to have been targeted last month, when a truck suddenly cut into the lane in which his motorcade was traveling to Belgrade's airport. The motorcade narrowly avoided a collision, and Djindjic later dismissed the Feb. 21 alleged assassination attempt as a ``futile effort'' that could not stop democratic reforms.

``If someone thinks the law and the reforms can be stopped by eliminating me, then that is a huge delusion,'' Djindjic was quoted as saying by the Politika newspaper at the time.
Djindjic, who spearheaded the popular revolt that toppled Milosevic in October 2000, had many enemies because of his pro-reformist and Western stands.

Djindjic, a pro-Western leader, saw Serbia's fate as linked to the West and favored greater cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where Milosevic now is standing trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

He was pivotal in arresting and handing Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal in June 2001. For this, he was blasted by Serbian nationalists, including his former ally Vojislav Kostunica, who stepped down as Yugoslav president earlier this month after the formation of a new state, Serbia and Montenegro.

Djindjic recently promised Western envoys that he would try to arrest former Bosnian Serb military commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, the world's No. 2 war crimes fugitive wanted by the tribunal. Mladic is believed to be hiding somewhere in Serbia.

Djindjic's feud with Kostunica since the two jointly toppled Milosevic had virtually paralyzed the country's much-needed economic and social reforms.

Kostunica told B-92 radio Wednesday that while he disagreed with Djindjic on many issues, the assassination was ``awful ... this shows how little we have done to democratize society.'' He called the killing ``a warning to look ourselves in the eye and ask how much crime has permeated all the pores of society.''

Djindjic was often criticized by his opponents for seeking too much power and for ``mercilessly'' combating his political rivals. He was often linked to Serbia's underworld bosses, something that he had vehemently denied.

The assassination of Djindjic heralds turbulent days for Serbia and a bitter power struggle for his successor. Otpor, or Resistance, an independent pro-democracy group, said the shooting means ``criminals have won the battle'' in Serbia.

A German-educated technocrat known to supporters as ``The Manager'' for his organizational skills and as ``Little Slobo'' to his detractors for his authoritarian tendencies, Djindjic nonetheless managed to gain some political capital from his willingness to surrender Milosevic despite a constitutional ban on extraditing Serbian citizens.

Though derided for his fondness for big cars and flashy suits, Djindjic's trade of Milosevic for US$1.2 billion in international economic aid appeared to have won respect from people desperate to improve a living standard that ranks among the lowest in Europe.

Born in 1952 into the family of a Yugoslav army officer in the town of Bosanski Samac near the Bosnian border, Djindjic was raised and educated in Belgrade.

In the early 1970s he enrolled in the School of Philosophy at Belgrade University, a hotbed of liberal opposition to the Communist regime. In 1977, he left to earn a doctorate in philosophy at Heidelberg, Germany.

Djindjic took active part in all protests against Milosevic's rule since 1991. He became Democratic Party president in 1994 and was active in the anti-government protests of 1996-97.

Serbian premier assassinated

The Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, has been assassinated in the capital, Belgrade. (BBC)

He was shot in front of government offices at around 1300 (1200 gmt) on Wednesday.
He was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but a government minister told the BBC's Serbian section that he had died of his wounds.

Mr Djindjic, a former mayor of the Serbian capital, was a prominent reformist opposition leader until Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from power in 2000.

Unconfirmed Serbian media reports say that two people were arrested at the scene of the shooting.

A police source told Reuters news agency that he had been hit twice by large-calibre sniper rifle bullets.

The editor of the Fonet news agency, Zoran Sekulich, told BBC World television Mr Djindjic had been shot once in the stomach and once in the back.

Enemies
On 21 February Mr Djindjic survived what he said was an assassination bid when a lorry swung into the path of his motorcade as he was travelling to Belgrade airport.

He later dismissed the incident as a "futile effort" which could not stop democratic reforms.

Correspondents say that Mr Djindjic, 50, made many enemies over his career as a pro-democracy campaigner and then as Serbia's prime minister.
He was pivotal in arresting and handing Mr Milosevic over to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague in June 2001.
The move opened the way to international aid to the then Yugoslavia.

Serb PM shot dead in Belgrade

BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) --Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic has been shot and killed in Belgrade, according to party and hospital sources.

Djindjic, the "emblem of democracy" and merited with getting former leader Slobodan Milosevic on trial in The Hague, was shot outside government buildings midday Wednesday.

An emergency session of parliament is being held.
Journalist Dusan Radulovic told CNN the prime minister had been shot twice in the stomach and chest. Two snipers are suspected of having been involved.

Police said another official, Boris Tadic, vice president of the Democratic Party, was standing next to Djindjic in the government building courtyard and was hit by bullets and killed. Two other people were also injured.

The shooting happened at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT).

Radulovic added numerous police officers were in downtown Belgrade armed and searching cars for evidence.

The 50-year-old prime minister had two bodyguards and a bullet-proof car, but the shooting happened in an open space.

Djindjic played a key role in the overthrow of ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, now on trial at the Hague. Serbia is one of the two republics in the nation of Serbia and Montenegro, previously called Yugoslavia.

In a suspected assassination attempt last month, a truck almost hit a car Djindjic was travelling in.

There is speculation that the latest attack could be linked to the rise in organized crime in Serbia.

Djindjic played a key role in the overthrow of ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, who is now on trial in The Hague for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity.

The prime minister has been a close ally of the West in trying to secure aid.

CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour said: "This is a very, very severe blow to all those in the international community trying to engage with Serbia."

She added that Djindjic was "aware of his own vulnerability."

"He has talked many times of threats to his own life."

Amanpour said Djindjic has been an "emblem of democracy...he has played a key and dramatic role in bringing his country into the democratic world...a courageous man."

Serbia is one of the two republics in the nation of Serbia and Montenegro, previously called Yugoslavia.

Serbian PM assassinated

BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) --Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who played a key role in the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic, has been shot dead by a sniper.

Djindjic, 50, was hit twice in the chest in front of the main government building in Belgrade at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Wednesday. He underwent emergency surgery but doctors were unable to save his life, hospital officials said.

Another person was wounded in the shooting, police said.

A sniper was reported to have been seen in the area, according to Serbian television. Police were stopping cars and searching them in the area around the shooting. There were reports that arrests were made, but police offered no confirmation.

Officials are speculating that the shooting could be linked to a crime wave in the country and the government's efforts to stamp out crime. An emergency session of the Serbian government was convened, government officials said.

Djindjic had put himself out on a limb to meet Western demands for aid by handing over other war criminals to the Hague. His reformist pro-Western stance drew opposition from Serb nationalists and created many enemies.

Last month, he appeared to have been targeted when a truck suddenly cut into the lane in which his motorcade was traveling to Belgrade's airport.

Media reports in Belgrade said police believed the incident was an attempt to kill him. Djindjic had initially dismissed the incident as a case of "careless driving."

CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour said on Wednesday: "This is a very, very severe blow to all those in the international community trying to engage with Serbia."

She added that Djindjic was "aware of his own vulnerability. He has talked many times of threats to his own life."

Amanpour said Djindjic has been an "emblem of democracy ... he has played a key and dramatic role in bringing his country into the democratic world ... a courageous man."
Serbia is one of the two republics in the nation of Serbia and Montenegro, previously called Yugoslavia.

Serbiens Ministerpräsident stirbt bei Attentat

Der serbische Ministerpräsident Zoran Djindjic ist bei einem Anschlag ums Leben gekommen. Er sei seinen Verletzungen erlegen, meldete der Radiosender B92 am Mittwoch (12.3.2003). DW

Angreifer hatten dem 50-Jährigen im Hof des Belgrader Regierungsgebäudes mehrere Kugeln in Bauch und Rücken geschossen. Berichten zufolge war er in der Vergangenheit mehrfach mit dem Tode bedroht worden. Eine unabhängige Bestätigung gab es dazu zunächst nicht.

Zwei Tatverdächtige seien in diesem Zusammenhang festgenommen worden, teilten hochrangige Polizeikreise der Nachrichtenagentur dpa mit.

Notoperation
Auf den Politiker waren Polizeikreisen zufolge vor dem Regierungsgebäude in Belgrad aus größerer Entfernung mehrere Schüsse aus einer großkalibrigen Waffe abgegeben worden. Djindjic sei von zwei Kugeln in die Brust getroffen worden und zu einer Notoperation ins Krankenhaus gebracht worden.

Vergangenen Monat war bereits bei einem Attentatsversuch ein Lastwagen auf den Wagenkonvoi von Djindjic zugerast. Eine Kollision konnte jedoch verhindert werden.

Mitbegründer der DS
Zoran Djindjic gehörte 1990 zu den Mitbegründern der Demokratischen Partei (DS), für die er auch ins serbische Parlament einzog. 1993 war er dort DS-Fraktionschef und zugleich auch Abgeordneter im Parlament der Bundesrepublik Jugoslawien. 1994 übernahm er auch den DS-Parteivorsitz.

Der Reformpolitiker, der fließend deutsch sprach, stand an der Spitze der friedlichen Revolution von 2000, mit der der frühere jugoslawische Präsident Slobodan Milosevic zum Rücktritt gedrängt wurde. Seine westliche Orientierung und seine Reformpolitik haben dem Ministerpräsidenten viele Feinde eingebracht. Er setzte auch Milosevics Auslieferung an das UN-Kriegsverbrechertribunal in Den Haag im Juni 2001 durch. Serbische Nationalisten und Djindjics früherer Verbündeter Vojislav Kostunica, der bis zum vergangenen Monat Präsident war, verziehen ihm dies nicht. (mas)

12. März 2003, 14:25, NZZ Online

Serbiens Ministerpräsident erliegt Attentat
Djindjic durch Schüsse getötet

Serbiens Ministerpräsident Zoran Djindjic soll seinen Verletzungen erlegen sein, die er bei einem Anschlag am Mittwoch in Belgrad erlitten hatte. Auf den Politiker waren Polizeikreisen zufolge vor dem Regierungsgebäude in Belgrad aus grösserer Entfernung mehrere Schüsse aus einer grosskalibrigen Waffe abgegeben worden.

(sda/Reuters) Der serbische Ministerpräsidenten Zoran Djindjic ist nach Angaben aus seiner Partei bei einem Attentat am Mittwoch getötet worden. Eine unabhängige Bestätigung gab es dazu zunächst nicht. Auf den Politiker waren laut Angaben aus Polizeikreisen vor dem Regierungsgebäude in Belgrad aus grösserer Entfernung mehrere Schüsse aus einer grosskalibrigen Waffe abgegeben worden.

Zwei Festnahmen
Djindjic sei von zwei Kugeln in die Brust getroffen worden und zu einer Notoperation ins Krankenhaus gebracht worden, hiess es in den Kreisen. Zwei Tatverdächtige seien in diesem Zusammenhang festgenommen worden, teilten hochrangige Polizeikreise der Nachrichtenagentur dpa mit.

Anschlagsversuch im Februar
Djindjic war bereits im Februar knapp einem Anschlag entgangen. Wie es hiess, hatte ein Lastwagen mit österreichischem Kennzeichen versucht, den Wagen von Djindjic von der Strasse zu drängen. Djindjic sprach daraufhin von einem "nutzlosen Unterfangen", um seinen demokratischen Reformprozess zu stoppen, was jedoch nicht gelingen werde.

Blessé dans une fusillade, le premier ministre de Serbie serait mort

(Le Monde) Le premier ministre de Serbie, Zoran Djindjic, grièvement blessé dans une fusillade, mercredi 12 mars, devant le siège du gouvernement de Serbie, aurait succombé à ses blessures alors qu'il avait été transféré aux urgences de l'hôpital de Belgrade, a rapporté la radio B92.

L'attentat a eu lieu vers 12 h 45 dans la cour du siège du gouvernement de Serbie, situé dans le centre-ville. Le premier ministre de Serbie a été atteint à la poitrine de deux balles de gros calibre tirées à distance, a indiqué la police.

Le premier ministre serbe avait échappé de peu à une autre tentative d'assassinat le mois dernier, quand un camion avait soudainement dévié sa route pour aller percuter un convoi de voitures parmi lesquelles figurait celle de Djindjic.

Deux personnes ont été arrêtées par la police, selon la radio B92.

4TH LEAD: Serbian P.M. Djindjic assassinated

Belgrade (dpa) - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was shot to death in Belgrade on Wednesday, medical and police sources said.

The premier was rushed to hospital where he died of chest injuries as surgeons battled to save his life, the sources said.

There was no official confirmation of his death two hours after the 12.45 p.m. attack. The Serbian government was in an emergency session at the time and an announcement was expected.

Djindjic was shot in the courtyard of the government building, apparently as he stepped out of his armour-plated BMW in the company of two bodyguards, local reports said.
Media quoted police sources as saying that Djindjic was shot twice, apparently from a high-powered rifle, from a building across the yard and a neighboring park.

The Belgrade television B92 showed footage of seconds immediately following the shooting, which showed extremely agitated and disorganized security guards.

The car driving Djindjic away had to break into the traffic without help from uniformed police, who are normally stationed around the building.

Other TV stations showed police and fire brigade units swarming the building believed to have been the alleged sniper's nest.

Unconfirmed reports said that another high-ranking official of Djindjic's Democratic Party may also have been hit.

On February 21, a truck driver swerved into Djindjic's car on a Belgrade highway leading to the airport. Despite media speculation, it remained unclear whether it was an assassination attempt.
Djindjic had been prime minister of Serbia for just over two years. He was considered a pragmatic reformist who got things done, but was criticized by some for accommodating the interests of shadowy figures who allegedly changed sides in the tumult which led to the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the autumn of 2000.

Obituary: Zoran Djindjic

Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - a key leader of the revolt that toppled former President Milosevic in October 2000 - has been assassinated by gunmen who ambushed him outside the government complex.

(BBC)
It was apparently the second attack on Djindjic in less than a month. On 23 February, he escaped what is believed to be an assassination attempt when a lorry swerved into his motorcade.

The prime minister suggested it could have been linked to efforts by his government to stamp out organised crime which flourished during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic.

Djindjic became the head of Serbia's first non-communist government in January 2001.
The veteran opposition leader was one of the main organisers of the September 2000 election campaign, which led to Mr Milosevic's fall.

It is widely believed that Mr Milosevic finally gave way after Djindjic, using his contacts in the army and security services, had persuaded them not to intervene to prop up the faltering regime.

Zoran Djindjic was born in Bosnia on 1 August 1952, the son of a Yugoslav Army officer.

He was expelled from high school in Belgrade when he tried to collect signatures protesting against the law that made Marshal Tito president for life.

In 1974 he fell foul of the authorities again when, along with fellow students from Croatia and Slovenia, he attempted to set up a non-communist student movement.

After gaining his undergraduate degree in Belgrade, Djindjic went to Germany, where he lived for several years and wrote a PhD in philosophy.

Opposition
At the same time, he went into business selling textile machines and making clothes.
By the late 1980s he had returned to Yugoslavia where he became a founder member of the Democratic Party.

Although he always opposed Mr Milosevic, he often took hawkishly nationalistic stances during the Croatian and Bosnian wars, and once famously roasted an ox with Radovan Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs.

He also had occasional meetings with Zeljko Raznatovic, the assassinated paramilitary leader and mafia chieftain, nicknamed Arkan, who spearheaded several ethnic cleansing campaigns in Croatia and Bosnia.
Few disputed Djindjic's ferocious intelligence or his organisational abilities.
But, above all he was a political pragmatist - or, as his detractors would say, an immoral political opportunist. He enjoyed being in control.

'Betrayals'
During the winter of 1996-97, Djindjic was one of the main leaders of the mass demonstrations against the Milosevic regime, along with the fiery orator Vuk Draskovic.
Together they won their fight against the Milosevic regime and Djindjic became mayor of Belgrade.

However, conflict and the deep-seated mutual antipathy of the two leaders became so intense that Djindjic refused to support Mr Draskovic's presidential candidacy and Mr Draskovic teamed up with Mr Milosevic's party to remove Djindjic from office.

Both Djindjic and Mr Draskovic accused one another of secretly betraying the opposition by meeting Mr Milosevic during the demonstrations. It later emerged that both of them had done this.

Later still, Mr Draskovic became a government minister, but Djindjic did not.
The squabbling between the two main Serbian opposition leaders enabled Mr Milosevic to prolong his time in office.

During Nato's bombing campaign of Yugoslavia, Djindjic received warnings from inside the security services that he risked his life by remaining in Serbia.

Djindjic fled to Montenegro, a move which damaged his political standing and, after he had met western leaders, enabled the Milosevic regime to denounce him as a "Nato mercenary".

Djindjic has played a prominent role in Serbian politics over the past decade, but he was never particularly popular with voters.

Djindjic, who spoke German and English, was married with two children.

Ferrero-Waldner ``deeply shocked'' at Djindjic assassination

Vienna (dpa) - Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she was ``deeply shocked'' at the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic who was killed by several shots in central Belgrade Wednesday afternoon.

``I'm shaken by this despicable act, particularly as I knew Prime Minister Djindjic well, and admired him. I send my deep sympathy to his wife and family.''

Ferrero-Waldner said she hoped that ``the democratic forces in Serbia are sufficiently consolidated so that extremist forces cannot make use of this attack.''
Djindjic had been one of the fathers of democracy in Serbia, ``and worked tirelessly, despite manifold difficulties, for this ideal''. Djindjic represented ``the new face of Serbia, orientated to Europe''.

She said although the motives of the assassination were not yet known, one could assume the gunmen and those behind them were following the aim of weakening the system of democracy and the rule of law.

``The international community must, without reservation, stand on the side of the democratically-orientated forces to prevent a destabilization of the country and the entire region'', said Ferrero-Waldner.

EU expresses shock at Djindjic assassination

STRASBOURG, France (AP) _ The European Union on Wednesday expressed shock Wednesday at the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, saying, ``Europe has lost a friend ... who has fought hard for democracy.''

Addressing the European Parliament, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country holds the EU presidency, conveyed his condolences to Djindjic's family ``and to entire Serb people. We share their grief.''

In separate comments, EU External Relations Commisisoner Chris Patten said the EU must forge ahead with efforts to encourage Serbia to stay on course for eventual EU membership.
``Clearly we must not allow the assassination to set back the remarkable progress made Serbia toward democracy,'' he said.

Papandreou said the assassination was a reminder of how fragile democracy is in a region that looks back on wars and tremendous political and ethnic upheaval in the past decade.

``This tragic event underscores Europe's focus to establish security and peace'' on its volatile southeastern doorstep, said Papandreou.

Djindjic was a key leader of the revolt that toppled former President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000.

He was assassinated Wednesday by gunmen who ambushed him outside the government complex shooting him in the back and abdomen, police sources said. He died of his wounds in a Belgrade hospital.

US government shocked, grieved

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government has informed the United States that Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic has succumbed to the wounds he sustained in the assassination in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Quoting an unnamed State Department official, French news agency AFP reported that the US government is "shocked and deeply grieved by the event."

Covic confirms death of Premier Zoran Djindjic

BELGRADE, March 12 (Tanjug) - Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt in the courtyard of the Serbian government building in central Belgrade on Wednesday, Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic has officially confirmed.
Djindjic died in the Urgent Medical Center where he was transferred after being shot twice in the chest.

Serbia: Djindjic Assassinated In Belgrade

Belgrade, 12 March 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic died today from wounds suffered when he was shot in front of the main government building in Belgrade.

Djindjic, who was 50, died after being taken to the hospital. He was reportedly shot twice in the chest at about 1 p.m. local time with high-caliber bullets. There were reports that two others were injured in the shooting, which is reported to have been carried out by snipers from some distance.

Government ministers immediately gathered in emergency session, a government source said.

Dpa reports that two men have been arrested. There were reports that a massive manhunt was underway in the capital and that cars are being searched in the downtown area.

Djindjic escaped injury last month when a truck swerved out of traffic and at a car in which Djindjic was riding. His car went off the road to avoid the truck and no one was injured. Djindjic himself suggested that incident might have been an assassination attempt, adding that he might be a target in connection with an ongoing battle against organized crime.

Djindjic was a reformer who played a major role in the downfall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000. It was Djindjic who made the decision to detain and send Milosevic to the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague in 2001. The move was made over the expressed disapproval of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, with whom Djindjic often feuded and who was considered his main political rival.

As one of the main opposition leaders to Milosevic's rule during the 1990s, Djindjic spearheaded a drive to oust the Yugoslav strongman in October 2000.

He took office as Serbian prime minister in February 2001 after December elections, and had often pledged to clamp down on corruption and widespread organized crime.
Djindjic was jailed as a dissident student in the 1970s. He was born in Bosanski Samac, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the son of a Yugoslav People's Army officer. He spoke German and English and was married with two children.

PROFILE: Serbian P.M. Djindjic falls victim to old ways in Serbia

By Boris Babic

Belgrade (dpa) - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, 50, shot dead on Wednesday in Belgrade, had sharply polarized the public long before he ascended to the office he has held for just over two years.

Supporters saw him as a pragmatic reformist who got things done in Serbia, a country empoverished and criminalized during the decade of wars and isolation.

Critics claimed that he was too liberal in taking shortcuts and accommodating the interests of shadowy figures, who allegedly changed sides in the tumult which led to the fall of the strongman president Slobodan Milosevic in the autumn of 2000.

During the push that finally deposed Milosevic, he was the mastermind who glued together 18 diverse opposition parties and put Vojislav Kostunica, previously a low-profile cabinet politician, into the federal presidency.

Following the 24 December 2000 elections, Djindjic took over the post of prime minister of Serbia on 25 January 2001.

Shortly after ``the change'', Djindjic's high-rolling style collided with Kostunica's much slower approach to burning problems.

They clashed over the violent crisis in southern Serbia, the arrest and extradition of Milosevic for a war crimes trial, privatization of the moribund domestic economy and virtually every other issue.

While Kostunica enjoyed almost unanimous support in surveys, Djindjic always struggled to reach a 50:50 mark, with at least as many disliking as liking him.

Opinions on him have been divided since the early 1990's, when he became the first Serbian deputy to wear an earring. Even his followers were stunned by his brutal, takeover of the Democratic Party (DS) from his former mentor, now chairman of the parliament, Dragoljub Micunovic.

But the change in the DS was followed by far better results on next elections.

During the NATO bombing in 1999, Djindjic fled to Montenegro, saying he received tips that an assassination was prepared against him. The move nevertheless disappointed many of those who chose to remain or who had to remain.

Over the previous 18 months, Kostunica's camp fuelled allegations of links between Djindjic's associates and underworld figures and even implicated the Serbian government in a killing of a former state security agent.

Nevertheless, western politicians have apparently come to prefer the energetic Djindjic as a partner in talks, rather than Kostunica.

Following the killing of a top police official in Belgrade, which shook Serbia last summer, Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said a terrorist group was also planning attacks on Djindjic and his family.
Some media in Belgrade reported earlier that Djindjic's life was in danger because he was staging a showdown with powerful leaders of paramilitary and military forces in wars in the former Yugoslavia and organized crime figures.

``If they thought what has happened in Milosevic's time can happen again, they are seriously wrong, they will feel it on their own skin,'' Djindjic said February 27. ``Serbia is amid an interesting fight against organized crime.''

Just six days earlier, a truck swerved into his car on a Belgrade highway as it was travelling in a convoy toward the airport, but it remained unclear if it was an assassination attempt.

Djindjic dismissed the speculation that it was an attempt on his life with good humour: ``Maybe he was learning to drive''. The comment was in line with witticisms which became a trademark of his as much as metaphors and lively hand and face gesticulation.
Djindjic was survived by wife Ruzica and two children.

Serbian government proposes state of emergency

Belgrade (dpa) - The Serbian government proposed a state of emergency, following the killing of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, on Wednesday Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic said.
The state of emergency was proposed because the constitutional order was jeopardized. It would transfer the authorities of the interior ministry to the military, he said.
Covic said the introduction of the state of emergency would have to be approved by the acting president of Serbia, Natasa Micic.

Djindjic Personified Serbia's Future

By KATARINA KRATOVAC

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) In Serbia's darkest hours, Zoran Djindjic stood up to the Balkans' worst dictator and single-handedly engineered Slobodan Milosevic's extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Once the autocratic ruler was toppled, Serbia's prime minister spearheaded democratic reforms meant to pull the republic long ostracized by the world back into Europe's mainstream.

Two fatal bullets fired Wednesday ended the life and aspirations of Djindjic, the man who personified Serbia's hopes for a better future.

Too stunned yet to start its grieving, some Serbs promptly pronounced Djindjic as the country's ``own Kennedy'' after the admired and assassinated U.S. president.

Born Aug. 1, 1952 to the family of a Yugoslav army officer in Bosanski Samac in neighboring Bosnia then part of the former Yugoslavia's six-state communist federation, Djindjic was raised and educated in Belgrade. He studied in the philosophy department of the capital's university, then a hotbed of liberal opposition to Tito's communist regime.

In 1977, he left to earn a doctorate in philosophy at Heidelberg, Germany. His academic career continued abroad, mostly at German universities.

A passionate anti-communist, Djindjic joined the Democratic Party since its founding days and took over its helm in 1994. Milosevic's autocratic rule already had plunged the former country into a series of ethnic wars that wreaked Europe's worst carnage since World War II.

In 1997, together with the Zajedno or ``Together'' coalition, Djindjic led three months of anti-Milosevic protests that daily challenged the dictator's police on Belgrade streets and caught the attention of freedom-fighters world over.

In 1999, Djindjic succeeded in uniting Serbia's fledgling pro-democracy movement and propelled the rise of Vojislav Kostunica in a popular uprising. It swept Milosevic from power in October 2000.

After Kostunica succeeded Milosevic as Yugoslavia's president, Djindjic emerged as the second most-powerful man in the country, becoming Serbia's prime minister after the pro-democracy alliance's convincing victory in December 1999 elections.

Djindjic's pro-Western government worked hard to bring the country into Europe's mainstream. For many Serbs, hopes of joining the European Union and the promise of Western investment, open borders and free trade was seen as the only way out of their misery of 60 percent joblessness, low living standards and staggering inflation.

Once in the prime minister's office, Djindjic accused Kostunica of nationalist rhetoric, pessimism and lack of determination to carry out changes after Milosevic's ouster.

Kostunica countered by saying Djindjic sought to turn Serbia into a ``Colombia-style'' mafia state, and he criticized the prime minister's suave public image, entourage of bodyguards and upscale lifestyle.

Djindjic was aware his pro-Western stance led to shaky popularity in Serbia, where nationalism still prevailed and where many were indoctrinated by Milosevic's reign into believing the West essentially anti-Serb. But he calmly pledged to continue on his reform path, and he declared an open war on the rampant organized crime that had engulfed the region.

Kostunica and Djindjic finally split, with Djindjic outmaneuvering Kostunica when what remained of Yugoslavia was transformed last month into a new, loose union renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

Djindjic's term was due to expire in 2004. It was not immediately clear who might succeed him.

Despite their bitter animosity, Kostunica deplored Djindjic's assassination, saying that while they disagreed on many issues, the shots that took Djindjic's life were ``proof that terrorism must be condemned and fought relentlessly, everywhere.''

Djindjic is survived by his wife, Ruzica; a son, Luka; and a daughter, Jovana.