Unfortunately, overshadowed by the Iraqi issue, this is a real loss!
ted
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Djindjic killing shocks Serbia
Wednesday, March 12, 2003 Posted: 1:34 PM EST (1834 GMT)
Djindjic was shot twice in the chest
BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) -- Serbia was in shock Wednesday after Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who played a key role in the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic and personified the country's postwar future, was shot dead.
Djindic, 50, was hit by two bullets in the stomach and chest outside the main government building in Belgrade. He was taken to hospital but doctors were unable to save him.
World leaders immediately expressed their outrage to the killing, which officials speculated could be linked to a crime wave in the country and the government's efforts to stamp out crime.
A state of emergency was approved Wednesday by Serbia's acting president and the speaker of parliament, Natasa Micic, at the request of the government. It is not clear what measures will now be introduced under the emergency.
"The government will do everything in its power to protect peace and democracy in Serbia," said an official written statement.
"This criminal act is a clear attempt to put an end to the development and democratization of Serbia and plunge it into isolation once again and was carried out by those who have been trying over the past few years to do so through various murders and assassinations."
The government said "the method in which the assassination was carried out is known," but it did not elaborate.
Another person was wounded in the shooting at about 12:25 p.m. (1125 GMT), police said. The shots came from a distance, suggesting a sniper pulled the trigger.
Police, on the hunt for the perpetrators, were stopping cars and searching them. Belgrade's airport had been closed for departures; only arrivals were allowed, but it was expected to be fully opened soon.
Three people have been arrested but it is not clear what their role may be in connection with the incident, police sources said. Their identities have not been disclosed.
Djindjic's assassination was announced as the government met in an emergency session, and participants held a moment of silence. The government has declared three days of state mourning from Thursday to Saturday
A senior official of Serbia's ruling coalition said the government, which confirmed Djindjic's death, had appointed Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic as acting prime minister, Reuters reported.
Covic appeared on television and said: "The assassination of the prime minister of Serbia, Zoran Djindjic, was a criminal act by those who want to disrupt reforms in Serbia."
Police officers in front of the federal parliament after the killing.
A government statement said Djindjic died at 1:30 in the emergency ward of the Serbian Clinic Center in Belgrade.
"He was not conscious and did not have a pulse upon arriving to the Emergency Ward. Doctors attempted to resuscitate his heart immediately and performed a major operation but were unable revive him," the statement said.
Last month, Djindjic appeared to have been targeted when a truck suddenly cut into the lane where his motorcade was traveling to Belgrade's airport.
Djindjic spearheaded the removal of ex-Yugoslav leader Milosevic in 2000. Milosevic is now on trial at the Hague for crimes against humanity and genocide for his actions during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
Djindjic 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 a lot of opposition from many Serbian nationalists and created a lot of enemies.
The Hague war crimes trials involve the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Kosovo -- a southern Serbian region.
Belgrade residents, recalling their controversial former mayor, and people throughout the Serbia were in a "state of shock" after hearing the news.
CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour called the assassination "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."
Police guard Ruzica Djindic as she leaves hospital where her husband was taken.
Dragana Nikolic of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting called Djindjic, who held a doctorate in philosophy, a "modern politician" and an "educated man." She said the Serbian government must take decisive steps in the next 48 hours to respond to the situation and "real action" must be taken against organized crime.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said U.S. President George W. Bush "expresses his condolences to the people of Serbia."
"Prime Minister Djindjic will be remembered for his role in bringing democracy to Serbia and for his role in bringing Slobodan Milosevic to justice," Fleischer said.
British officials who worked with the former Yugoslavia called it "a dark day" for Serbia. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw offered his condolences to Djindjic's family and said he was "deeply shocked" by the killing.
Serbia, which has a population of 10.5 million, is one of the two republics in the nation of Serbia and Montenegro, previously called Yugoslavia. They had been the only two republics remaining in Yugoslavia after the six-member socialist federation collapsed in the 1990s.
Yugoslavia -- first formed in 1918 -- started unraveling along ethnic lines in the early 1990s. Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina seceded in a series of ethnic wars, while Macedonia separated peacefully, leaving only Serbia and Montenegro together. The name was officially changed from Yugoslavia last month.
-- Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and Journalists Natasa Jovanovic and Dusan Radulovic contributed to this report |
