Posted on 12/06/2003 6:27:21 PM PST by yonif
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Two men wanted in connection with the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic have been arrested in Rotterdam, the Dutch public prosecutor's spokesman says.
Ninoslav Konstantinovic and his brother, Sladjan Konstantinovic, were arrested on Saturday afternoon, an official said.
"The national police investigation branch arrested at the start of the afternoon two suspects of the murder of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic," the public prosecutor's office said in a statement.
"The brothers arrested on Saturday have probably been staying in the Netherlands for several months...Both suspects have been arrested by a special team in Rotterdam."
"The two have been put in detention awaiting the outcome of the legal procedure of the Serbian request for extradition," the statement said.
The 50-year-old prime minister was hit by two bullets in the chest and stomach when he arrived in the morning of March 12 at the government building in Belgrade.
"This is great news and proof there won't be any place for a wanted criminal to hide," Serbia's Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic told Reuters in Belgrade.
He said Serb police had confirmed the identity of one of the men detained - Sladjan -- while Ninoslav's identity was expected to be confirmed by Monday following verification of his fingerprints.
Mihajlovic said Ninoslav Konstatinovic was one of the leading members of the so-called Zemun gang accused by Belgrade authorities of being behind the Djindjic's assassination.
"He (Ninoslav) was a senior member with a high-ranking place in the gang's hierarchy," Mihajlovic said. The Konstantinovic brothers are among 10 top suspects in the killing.
A special Serbian prosecutor in August issued indictments against 44 people suspected of conspiring or taking part in the killing.
Most of the accused were members of the Zemun gang, a mafia-style group named after a Belgrade suburb.
Dutch officials said the brothers were believed to be members of the gang.
"The site for the sniper had probably been selected by N.K who would also have buried the murder weapon at a building site," the Dutch statement said, using initials to identify one of the suspects held.
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