BELGRADE, March 21, 2003

• EU OFFICIAL URGES POLITICAL, ECONOMIC SUPPORT TO SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
• SVILANOVIC: EU SUPPORT IS RESOLUTE AND TIMELY

• ACCESSION OF SERBIA-MONTENEGRO TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE SUPPORT TO REFORMS, DEMOCRACY AND STABILITY - CE OFFICIAL
• SERBIA-MONTENEGRO WILL BE ASKED TO JOIN COUNCIL OF EUROPE IN EARLY APRIL, PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
• SERBIA-MONTENEGRO FLAG TO FLY IN STRASBOURG IN BEGINNING OF APRIL - FOREIGN MINISTER
• FASTER ADMISSION OF SERBIA-MONTENEGRO INTO CE IMPORTANT IMPULSE TO DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT - DJUKANOVIC
• REFORMS MUST NOT BE HALTED - SERBIA-MONTENEGRO OFFICIAL

• INTERNATIONAL MEETING BEGINS IN BELGRADE
• INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD DEMONSTRATE SOLIDARITY WITH SERBIA - MONTENEGRO, NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL
• NORWAY SUPPORTS SERBIA-MONTENEGRO ACCESSION TO PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE

• MAROVIC RECEIVES MESSAGE ON SUPPORT FROM GEORGE BUSH
• SERBIA-MONTENEGRO HAS FRIENDLY RELATIONS BOTH WITH US, EU - MAROVIC
• SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO ARMY SECURITY CHIEF OUSTED
• SERBIAN-MONTENEGRO FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS SECURITY NOT THREATENED FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES
• TWO IRAQI DIPLOMATS TO LEAVE SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
• NO SARS CASES REGISTERED OR SUSPECTED IN SERBIA-MONTENEGRO

• COURT PRESIDENT RESIGNS
• ARRESTED PROSECUTOR CONFESSES LINK WITH CRIMINALS
• ARRESTS OF ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS CONTINUE
• CANAK: DJINDJIC'S MURDER COUP DE ETAT ATTEMPT
• WORLD BANK GIVES SERBIA INTEREST FREE CREDIT WORTH US$200 MILLION
• DONORS HEED SERBIAN GOVERNMENT'S CALL
• DINAR WILL REMAIN STABLE - NBS GOVERNOR
• COVIC: ALMOST 2,000 TAKEN IN BY POLICE

• KOSOVO SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN DAILY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE, SERBIA-MONTENEGRO HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER
• SERBIAN DEPUTIES TALK WITH STEINER
• UNMIK HEAD PLEDGES SERBS RETURN TO KOSOVO WILL START IN APRIL
• UNMIK WARNS OF SUICIDE-BOMBERS' ATTACKS

• MONTENEGRIN GOVERNMENT WILL HELP SERBIAN GOVERNMENT - PREMIER
• MONTENEGRIN FOREIGN MINISTRY DEPLORES BEGINNING OF WAR IN IRAQ
• MONTENEGRIN GOVERNMENT ADOPTS AGENDA FOR DEVELOPMENT OF REFORMS

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Tanjug) - European Union High Representative for foreign policy and security Javier Solana said Thursday evening at their summit in Brussels he expects the EU leaders to adopt conclusions on support to the Balkans and particularly on the situation in Serbia-Montenegro.

Serbia and Montenegro have suffered much recently following the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, Solana noted, expressing hope that the EU Council would take a firm stance on political and economic aid to the country.

At their meeting Tuesday in Brussels, the EU foreign ministers also promised support to Serbia-Montenegro and urged its admission to the Council of Europe as soon as possible.

Sources close to Solana's office told Tanjug that the fact that the EU leaders are finding time to discuss the situation in the Balkans and particularly in Serbia-Montenegro amidst many other topics, including the war in Iraq, is a very important message for the new State Union.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - The European Union has reacted resolutely and in time in supporting Belgrade in the alleviation or elimination the economic consequences of the assassination of premier Zoran Djindjic, the foreign minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Goran Svilanovic, told BETA.

He said the end of April would be a good time for ending the state of emergency in Serbia, because it would not damage the country's image.

Svilanovic said he regretted the fact that a solution for the Iraq crisis had not been found at the UN. "In spite of such developments, Serbia and Montenegro still maintain the stand that relations in the international community must be based on generally accepted principles and on international law. Serbia and Montenegro have strongly advocated the fulfillment of all relevant UN Security Council resolutions in connection with Iraq, especially Resolution 1441, which was adopted unanimously," he said.

"With its stand towards the UN Commission for Monitoring and Verification (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and therefore by its attempts not to perform the complete and verifiable dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction and provide relevant proof of this, the Iraqi regime has put international peace and security in the region in jeopardy, which makes them responsible for all the consequences that might happen."

To the question of what we might expect from the international community, Svilanovic said that we may soon expect admittance to the Council of Europe (CE), and support in the alleviation of the economic consequences of the assassination of Zoran Djindjic. An ideal scenario would envisage the hoisting of our flag in the CE at the beginning of April.

He said that, during his recent visit to Brussels, he agreed with EU officials that an action plan be adopted as soon as possible, in order for work to begin on a feasibility study for the beginning of negotiations on stabilization and association with the EU.

"As for the U.S., we expect a normalization of trade relations in April, while budget aid is conditional on better cooperation with The Hague tribunal, like admittance to the Partnership for Peace. The current action of the relevant Serbian government bodies in the fight against organized crime and the investigation into the assassination of Zoran Djindjic, will probably lead to finding those indicted by The Hague tribunal," Svilanovic said, reiterating the government's resolve to fulfill its obligations towards the tribunal.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - The accession of Serbia-Montenegro to the Council of Europe (CE) should not be placed into the context of last week's developments and the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic, the CE secretary general's special envoy Verena Taylor said on Thursday.

The decision of the CE Council of Ministers to send a letter to the top Serbia-Montenegro organs regarding the acceptance of obligations linked to full membership in this oldest European organization represents, according of Taylor, primarily support to the continuation of the reforms, democracy and the strengthening of stability. She told on a press conference, organized to present a study on coordinating the rights of Serbia-Montenegro with the provisions of the European Human Rights and Freedoms Convention, that numerous spheres of the Serbia-Montenegro legislature should be totally changed.

The study was published in the form of a book by the Council of Europe and the former federal Justice Ministry.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro parliament speaker Dragoljub Micunovic said on Thursday it is probable that Serbia-Montenegro could definitively asked to join the Council of Europe in early April.

Today or tomorrow was should respond to the letter by the Committee of Ministers which should decide on March 26 whether to ask Serbia-Montenegro to join the CE, Micunovic told the press during a break in the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, currently held in Belgrade.

Underscoring that the CE Parliament Assembly (CEPA) session opens in March and lasts three weeks, Micunovic said it is realistic to expect certain technical problems to be resolved and Serbia-Montenegro to become a CE member at the start of April.

Expressing belief that Serbia-Montenegro would now be integrated into international institutions much faster, Micunovic announced that now it is the turn of this country's membership in the Partnership For Peace.

"I believe that after we join the CE, our parliamentary delegation will also represent us in the Partnership for Peace within the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where we now have the status of observers," Micunovic set out.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister said Thursday evening that Belgrade has conveyed to the Council of Europe its acceptance of commitments which are the pre-conditions for admission, and that he personally hopes that the Serbia-Montenegro flag would be raised in front of the CE palace in Strasbourg already in the beginning of April.

Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic and Serbian and Montenegrin Premiers Zoran Zivkovic and Milo Djukanovic wrote Thursday to the CE stating their acceptance of the commitments the CE Parliamentary Assembly has set as pre-conditions for admission, Svilanovic told the press at the Serbia-Montenegro parliament.

An answer from Strasbourg can be expected on March 26 at the earliest and - if positive - it would constitute a direct invitation to this country to become the 45th CE member, Svilanovic said.

PODGORICA, March 21 (Tanjug) - Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic said late on Thursday that a faster admission of Serbia and Montenegro into the Council of Europe (CE) would represent an "important impulse to the democratic and economic development of Serbia and Montenegro".

The "admission of Serbia and Montenegro into any of the European structures will represent a major impulse to all democratic structures not only in the member-countries, but in the region as well, which has a crying need for Europeanization," Djukanovic said at a press conference.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Secretary-General of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and member of the Serbia-Montenegro delegation to the Council of Europe congress of local and regional authorities Djordje Stanicic told the congress Thursday that the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic was a criminal attempt to halt democratization and reform processes in the country. Stanicic conveyed to the congress the determination of authorities in Serbia and Montenegro to prevent the halting or slowing down of these processes following the assassination, the Conference said. Democratic forces in both parliaments of the new State Union are firmly committed to reforms, as demonstrated by the speedy election of Serbia-Montenegro Council of Ministers and of Serbia's premier, Stanicic said.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - A three-day meeting entitled "Serbia and Montenegro: New Hopes, New Challenges," organized by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, began at the SerbianMontenegrin Parliament on Marc 20.

The head of a SerbianMontenegrin parliamentary delegation at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Miroslav Filipovic, in his opening speech said that the very fact the meeting was organized, after the assassination of premier Zoran Djindjic, was proof of the country's stability and a sure sign that it wanted to be a part of the NATO integration.

Speaker of the SerbianMontenegrin Parliament Dragoljub Micunovic said that the assassinated premier had been the engine and instigator of reforms in the country and had inspired the wish to join European integration processes.

He also said that it was out of line to accuse Serbia and Montenegro of not cooperating with The Hague tribunal. This has proved to be wrong by the fact that two former Yugoslav and Serbian presidents Slobodan Milosevic and Milan Milutinovic are in The Hague.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - NATO Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General Simon Lan on Thursday conveyed in the Seriban-Montenegro parliament a message from the NATO Assembly president that "at this critical moment" the international community should demonstrate solidarity by providing financial, political and practical aid to Serbia-Montenegro.

In Europe there is no place for those who want "jungle rule," Lan set out, underscoring the "importance of ridding oneself of the remnants of the past to achieve the stability of the entire region." NATO Assistant General Secretary for Political Issues Guenter Altenberg said that the Balkans remains one of the priorities of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Speaking about the efforts of Serbia-Montenegro to get involved in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program, Altenberg said that in this sense "crucial is the full cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague." "All indictees should be brought before justice including (former Republika Srpska president Radovan) Karadzic and (RS war commander Ratko) Mladic - because without justice there can be no peace and stability," Altenberg concluded.

The three-day seminar, organized by the Serbia-Montenegro parliament and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, will focus on the foreign policy of Serbia-Montenegro, its role in the Balkans, reform of the defense system, fight against organized crime and cooperation with The Hague tribunal.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro Defense Minister Boris Tadic met in Belgrade on Thursday with Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Travik who expressed support to the state union's efforts to join the NATO Partnership For Peace Program.

During talks in the Serbia-Montenegro parliament, Travik set out that NATO shares Norway's view it is time to speed up the process of Serbia-Montenegro accession to the Partnership For Peace - but that certain NATO members continue to insist that this is linked to full cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague and the extradition of persons indicted for war crimes.

According to Tadic, "cooperation with The Hague will be promoted" and, following the fight against organized crime, whose results are "already visible and will be even more visible in the coming weeks," the priority of the authorities is to find and hand over indictees for war crimes.

Tadic said that according to information in the possession of Belgrade, "ethnic Albanian terrorist groups are planning fresh attacks in southern Serbia in the belief that the United States and its allies are focused on Iraq." Tadic underscored the importance of joining the Partnership For Peace also because "the implementation of instruments" at the disposal of countries involved in this NATO program.

Travik concluded that time will be needed, "the next couple of months", to realize this goal. He pointed out that Norway would back the efforts of Serbia-Montenegro to join the Partnership For Peace "as much as it is in its power" because it believes that the place of Serbia-Montenegro is "among the democratic European nations."

BELGRADE, March 21 (Tanjug) - Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic has received US Ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery, who presented him with a letter of President George Bush.

In the message, in which Bush congratulates Marovic for having been elected as president of the new state union of Serbia and Montenegro, the US president also expresses a readiness of his country to cooperate closely with the Serbia-Montenegro Ministerial Council, so as to improve bilateral relations, promote regional stability and cooperation, as well as to speed up the integration of Serbia and Montenegro into Euro-Atlantic institutions and the international community.

PODGORICA, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic said on Thursday that the state union was neither big enough, nor free of its problems and so influential in the international community to be able to judge who was right regarding the war in Iraq.

"We have friendly relations with America, but also wish to acknowledge our European friends," Marovic said in an interview for the Podgorica daily Vijesti. He said that "dictatorship and terrorism are common opponents" and stressed that Serbia and Montenegro "must be an ally of a modern, open and democratic world and their leaders in the international community."

"We will not preserve our future in the right way if we close the door to our great friends, those who are our allies both on the American and European continents," Marovic said.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - The Supreme Defense Council decided to terminate the professional military service of the chief of the Security Office of the Serbia and Montenegro Army, Major General Aca Tomic, the federal president's cabinet said on Marc 20.

The Council discussed the political and security situation in Serbia and Montenegro and positively assessed a report on carrying out the Supreme Defense Council's decision on the engagement of the Army in the state of emergency in Serbia. The Council maintains that the tasks regarding army involvement in the circumstances of the state of emergency in Serbia have so far been successfully performed and that it was decided to continue such involvement and cooperation with the Serbian Interior Ministry and other bodies.

The meeting of the Supreme Defense Council was chaired by Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic and attended by acting Serbian and Montenegrin presidents, Natasa Micic and Filip Vujanovic, Defense Minister and Deputy Minister Boris Tadic and Vukasin Maras, Chief of Staff Branko Krga and the Supreme Defense Council Secretary Dusan Stajic.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said Thursday in Belgrade that the recent assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic had once again demonstrated that national stability and security are not threatened today by any external enemies or sources, but above all by organized crime and its ties with some social structures.

It is now quite obvious that after the departure of the regime which was in power until 2000, political-criminal structures and groups created in the situation of armed conflict, sanctions, quasi-patriotic populist propaganda, media terror, pressures and intimidation of the people and public, have continued to act, nearly unhindered in some cases, Svilanovic told a seminar organized in the Serbia-Montenegro parliament by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

In such a situation, ties were created among the classic criminal circles, a part of the so-called political elite, sectors of various security and similar services and groups which oppose any cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to which the state is committed, Svilanovic said. These groups have obviously realized that they can hinder or slow down some aspects of democratization and reforms, but cannot halt them, which has incited them to take the last step - the assassination of the key architect of changes, Svilanovic said.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro on March 20 summoned the Iraqi Ambassador, Dr. Sami Sadou AlKinani to hand him a note declaring two Iraqi diplomatic officials of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Belgrade personae non grate because their activities were inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered them and members of their families to leave the territory of Serbia and Montenegro within 72 hours.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - No cases of serious acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) currently spreading worldwide have been registered in Serbia, head of the Serbian Health Protection Institute center for the prevention and control of contagious diseases Dr. Mila Jankovic said Thursday.

Jankovic told a press conference that health authorities were asked to check on three cases, and that tests showed no presence of SARS.

There is no reason for concern or panic as there is no reason to suspect that the people are endangered by SARS in this country, Jankovic underlined.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - Serbian Supreme Court President Leposava Karamarkovic on March 20 informed the Serbian Legislature and the public that she was withdrawing under pressure from the judiciary.

In a brief announcement, Leposava Karamarkovic said, "due to the severe political and media pressure, I am unable to do my duty as Serbian Supreme Court President."

The head of the Serbian Legislature administration committee, Bosko Ristic, also a representative of the Democratic Party, on Marc 19 called on Leposava Karamarkovic to resign from her post and announced that otherwise constitutional and legal mechanisms would be found and used for personnel changes in the top ranks of the judiciary.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - Deputy Serbian public prosecutor Milan Sarajlic during the investigation against him confessed that he was on the "payroll" of the so-called Zemun clan, suspected of assassinating Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic.

An announcement made by the Serbian government on Marc 20 says that Sarajlic also confessed that he "went to Silerova Street for instructions" from the leaders of the Zemun clan, Milorad Lukovic a.k.a. Legija, Dusan Spasojevic a.k.a. Siptar, and Mile Lukovic a.k.a. Kum.

Sarajlic, arrested on Marc 19, told the police that he had been assigned to obstruct all investigations conducted after Oct. 5, 2000, when the regime of Slobodan Milosevic was ousted.

Sarajlic confessed that he had assisted in lobbying, arranging contacts and exerting pressure within the judiciary, adding that he reported to the Zemun clan on details regarding the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Sarajlic was also paid to bring all information from meetings with representatives of the judiciary, the prosecution, police, Security Information Agency, and the government.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - Serbian Interior Ministry officials continue arrests in Serbian towns in the investigation of the murder of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic and the fight against organized criminal groups.

Since the state of emergency was introduced, the Novi Sad police apprehended 25 persons connected with the so-called "Zemun clan" and seized a substantial amount of arms and drugs. "These professional criminals have committed the worst crimes with elements of violence (murder, violent behavior, provoking general instability and so on) and smuggling narcotics (heroin and cocaine) in the territory of Vojvodina by order of the Zemun Clan, reads the statement of the Novi Sad police.

The police said that on Marc 19 they had searched the apartment and other premises of Milan Suvajdzic, a members of the Zemun Clan who is on the run, and that in the shed attached to the flat belonging to his mother, Iboljka Suvajdzic, they had found 10.5 kilograms of heroin.

Since the state of emergency was introduced, 46 persons were arrested in Leskovac. They are suspected of a number of robberies, larceny and drug trafficking. In Smederevo, 112 persons were apprehended and 15 arrested and a substantial amount of arms and ammunition was confiscated.

The Subotica police pressed 59 criminal charges against 21 persons since the introduction of the state of emergency, for minor offenses. The police in Pozarevac have so far apprehended 48 persons and 13 are being held in 30day custody. A substantial amount of arms and ammunition was found with the detained persons.

NOVI SAD, March 20 (Beta) - The president of the Vojvodina Assembly and one of the leaders of the ruling DOS coalition, Nenad Canak, said that the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic was an attempt at a coup de etat in Serbia, adding that the republican government would square accounts with organized crime under the motto "either us or them."

In an interview with BETA, he said that Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic had told him a year ago that there were criminal groups who intended to destabilize the country by attempting to assassinate certain senior state officials, including the premier.

"Therefore the police did have information. And what happened next? Why there was no subsequent action to launch a direct showdown, is a very complex question," Canak said.

The murder of Djindjic was a coup de etat attempt spearheaded not by an organized political group but by organized crime which Slobodan Milosevic had created in Serbia, Canak stated. He added that the goal of this coup de etat was not "to bring someone to power but to oust those who are in power."

Canak said that it would be wrong to limit the circle of potential organizers of Djindjic's murder strictly to war criminals, adding that the networks concerned were very serious and included "narcopatriots and arms dealers."

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - The head of the World Bank office in Belgrade, Rory O'Sullivan, on Marc 20 confirmed that Serbia and Montenegro will receive an interest free credit worth US$200 million from the World Bank by the end of June. The credit is a part of the already greenlit World Bank funds for this year, which amount to US$540 million.

After talks with the Serbian Montenegrin minister for foreign economic relations, Branko Lukovac, Rory O'Sullivan said that the ministry was facing a great challenge because it was very important to use the money as soon as possible, and added that the World Bank would aid the economic development of the new union as much as it could.

"This is a critical time not only because of the horrible murder of the Serbian premier but also because institutional changes are under way in the country and the republics are taking over various functions," O'Sullivan said. He stressed that an agreement was made to accelerate the realization of projects financed by the World Bank in Serbia and Montenegro.

Lukovac said that the World Bank representative promised him that, due to the current circumstances in Serbia and Montenegro, the process of taking approved funds would be simplified.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Beta) - The Serbian Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations on Marc 20 announced that donors were positively responding to the Serbian government's call to aid the preservation of the country's stability and the citizens' living standards in extraordinary circumstances.

"It is difficult to say, especially after the beginning of the attack on Iraq, when an agreement will be reached on the holding of a donors' conference for Serbia and Montenegro. That is why we find it most important that the donor countries reduce the procedure for sending aid that has been approved," assistant minister Gordana Lazarevic told BETA.

Because of the war in Iraq, she added, representatives of the Serbian authorities should clearly show that not only would the reforms continue but that amendments to regulations aim to create the best possible conditions for attracting foreign investments.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Mladjan Dinkic said on Thursday that the dinar would remain stable and that the war in Iraq could affect the Serbian economy only if the oil price registered an uncontrolled growth, which might increase the planned 9-percent inflation rate in 2003 by an additional one to two percent.

Voicing belief that the dinar will remain strong in the coming years, Dinkic told the Belgrade B92 Radio that there had been no indications in the past seven days that the value of the local currency would drop, despite a special situation in the country following the assassination of Premier Djindjic.

"If the price of oil in the world grows considerably, this may affect the prices of goods and services in Serbia," the governor said and added that it was good that the Serbian government had imported enough oil at a low price in the past three months and created sufficient stocks for the domestic market. Dinkic said that one should not be afraid that the macroeconomic, monetary and fiscal stability in the country would be jeopardized, since it had been built on a solid basis in the past two and a half years. At this point, only a greater inflow of foreign direct investments and a better business climate are lacking on the domestic market, he added.

PRESEVO, March 20 (Beta) - The Serbian deputy premier in carge of southern Serbia, Nebojsa Covic, said in Presevo on Marc 20 that 1,916 persons have been brought in for questioning since the introduction of the state of emergency, of whom "around 800" have been kept in custody.

Covic attended a session of the Presevo municipal assembly, dedicated to the security situation in southern Serbia after the murder of a member of the Security Information Agency (BIA), Selver Fazliu, a member of the gendarmerie, and two Albanian civilians.

Presevo mayor Riza Halimi said that the remnants of the former regime have been a special problem in southern Serbia since the beginning of solving of the crisis in 2001, and that the assassination of Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic was evidence of the links of people who were close to Slobodan Milosevic with organized crime.

"We will not allow setbacks. There have been enough murders here. How can anyone be bothered by the gendarmerie and the military, and not by bothered by extremist groups who keep coming from Kosovo to create problems," Covic said.

BELGRADE, March 20 (Tanjug) - The international community has not fulfilled its obligations to establish a normal life in Kosovo-Metohija and currently there are no favorable conditions for the return of those who were expelled, Serbia-Montenegro Human and Minority Rights Minister Rasim Ljajic said on Wednesday evening in a special program of the YUInfo television.

According to Ljajic, only two percent of those who were driven away have returned to Kosovo. Ljajic said that at this moment the most important task is to find the best way for the integration of the Kosovo-Metohija population into daily political and social activities.

The international community, which has already earmarked ten million euros, should help in this, Ljajic set out.

PRISTINA, March 20 (Beta) - Deputies of the "Povratak" (Return) coalition in the Kosovo Assembly, Dragisa Krstovic, Oliver Ivanovic and Gojko Savic, had talks with UNMIK head Michael Steiner in Pristina on Marc 20, about issues that are important for the survival of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

Krstovic told reporters that they had discussed the return of the displaced and the transfer of jurisdiction to temporary Kosovo institutions, and that they had "clearly" told the UNMIK chief that they "do not agree with this move".

Ivanovic said that representatives of the Return coalition opposed Steiner's proposal that "right now, at the peak of the Iraq crisis and the fight against organized crime in Serbia, jurisdiction should be transferred to the temporary Kosovo institutions, all the more so because the Serbian representatives and members of the international community had assessed them as failed".

PRISTINA, March 20 (Tanjug) - Kosovo parliament Presidency members Oliver Ivanovic and Gojko Savic and Return coalition whip Dragisa Krstovic conferred in Pristina on Thursday with UNMIK head Michael Steiner about the Serb return to Kosovo-Metohija and transfer of competence, which the UNMIK head had given to provisional Kosovo institutions.

Krstovic told Tanjug that Steiner had pledged that a more significant return of Serbs to Kosovo-Metohija would start in April. As for the delegation of competence, Steiner was unsure whether his move had been good or not, Krstovic said and explained that the UNMIK head believed that it was too late now to discuss this since the international public had been informed about it and the UN Security Council had asked for the transfer of additional competence to provisional Kosovo institutions.

Krstovic said that the Return coalition had remained true to its stand that the decision to transfer new competence to provisional Kosovo institutions was hasty and that these institutions had shown that they were not ready for new competence.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, March 21 (Tanjug) - A ranking UNMIK police official warned late on Thursday all regional UNMIK police commanders and Kosovo Police Services (KPS), as well as the frontier-police, of the possibility that, after the US-led attack on Iraq, suicide-bombers could operate in Kosovo-Metohija, sources close to UNMIK told Tanjug.

The information on suicide-bombers was obtained from the US office in Pristina, a fax sent to regional commanders said, and pointed out that the persons involved in these possible attacks were members of a certain Islamic non-government organization.

The suicide-bombers are believed to be extremists who are trained for attacking with explosive devices tied to their bodies, and who are located in the region of Pristina, but could operate anywhere in Kosovo.

PODGORICA, March 20 (Tanjug) - Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic expressed hope Thursday that the new Serbian Premier Zoran Zivkovic and his cabinet will successfully fight organized crime and continue on the path of democracy and reforms following the recent assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic.

"I hope that Zivkovic will be able, with the unchanged composition of the Serbian government with some reinforcements, to pursue all activities initiated by Djindjic, and that Serbia will quickly restore stability and demonstrate by its actions against organized crime its capability to maintain general social stability and to continue on the reform, democratic and pro-European path, Djukanovic told a press conference. Montenegro will provide all its help to the Serbian government in this, Djukanovic said. Djindjic's assassination will have serious effects both on the political processes in Serbia and on the overall stability in the region, he added.

PODGORICA, March 20 (Tanjug) - The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry deplores the failure of international diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving peaceful disarmament in Iraq as well as the start of war, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Dragisa Burzan said on Thursday.

"The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry voices hope that, since military operations in Iraq have already happened, the used military force will be proportionate to the declared political goals, that all efforts would be made to avoid civilian victims and that the war will end as quickly as possible," Burzan told Radio Free Europe.

He said that his Ministry "expects that the UN system will start its active participation in the post-war restoration of the Iraqi society and its democratic institutions and that it will guarantee Iraq's territorial integrity."

PODGORICA, March 20 (Beta) - The Montenegrin government on Marc 20 adopted "The Agenda for the Development of Economic Reforms," the government's strategic document for the next four years.

Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic told a press conference that the Agenda represented a strategy of changes encompassing economic reforms, administrative reforms and reforms in the education system. He said that the government's basic goal would be to make economic reforms more dynamic, adding that "all the prerequisites political stability, the results achieved and the full capacity and stability of the government" already existed.

He said that the annual GDP until 2006 was expected to increase by 15.2 percent compared to 2002 and that 20,000 new jobs are expected to be created within the four-year period.