Weekly had story about Serb PM's murder day early

BELGRADE, March 14 (Reuters) - Serb police have detained the owner of a small weekly that ran a headline about the planned assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic the day before he was gunned down, one of its journalists said on Friday.

Journalist Zika Rakonjac said police arrested Gradisa Katic, also editor-in-chief of the tabloid Identitet weekly, at around noon on Thursday. Djindjic was killed by a sniper bullet in central Belgrade on Wednesday.

In the issue that hit news stands on Tuesday it said in a front-page headline -- referring to Serb suspects held at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague -- "Djindjic the target of freelance shooter. Serbs from The Hague ordered assassination."

Rakonjac said he believed this was why his boss was held, saying he had not heard from him since. But he said the article was part of a series and that it was a coincidence it was published shortly before the premier's death.

"We were all shocked by the news of Djindjic's murder and the coincidence. I assume the headline was the reason for his arrest," he said.

Djindjic had pledged to clamp down on the organised crime that flourished during the bloodstained rule of then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, ousted by reformers in 2000.

It was Djindjic who in 2001 sent Milosevic to the The Hague war crimes tribunal to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity linked to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The decision enraged Serbian nationalists.

Rakonjac said the article was the fourth in a series based on what the weekly described as "top secret" intelligence material given to it by Serbian hardline leader Vojislav Seselj, who turned himself in to the U.N. war crimes court last month.

The part of the story on which the headline was apparently based quoted a secret agent nicknamed Maksa as saying in a report dated mid-2002 that Djindjic feared a killer hired by one of those he had sent to The Hague would shoot him.

The government has said a powerful criminal gang based in the Belgrade municipality of Zemun was behind Djindjic's murder, saying it wanted to sow fear and chaos in the Balkan republic.

It declared a state of emergency and vowed to hunt down those responsible, making dozens of arrests. But the key suspects, including a battle-hardened former special police commander, remained at large.

As part of the state of emergency imposed after Djindjic's murder, the government put restrictions on the media, telling news organisations to stick to its statements and threatening to temporarily shut any that did not.

Serbian Assassination Looms Over Tribunal

Sat Mar 15, 9:32 AM ET

By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - As the trial of former President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) crawls through its second year, the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal is struggling to cope with the U.N. mandate it was given 10 years ago to bring justice to those responsible for the Balkans slaughter.

That task has gotten harder with the assassination of Serbia's Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who orchestrated Milosevic's extradition. The death has raised doubts about the chances for a trial at The Hague (news - web sites) for former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and other fugitives.

Serbia was thrust into crisis Wednesday when Djindjic was shot in Belgrade. The government accused Milosevic's allies of organizing the killing, pointing to an alleged criminal clan built on police and security forces from the Milosevic's regime.

Even if Djindjic was not killed for collaborating with the tribunal, in today's atmosphere of lawlessness an implicit threat of death could hang over any successor who defies the hardline nationalist sentiment fostered by Milosevic. The intimidation may even be felt in The Hague, which might be reluctant to pressure a new, uncertain regime in Belgrade.

In The Hague on Friday, Milosevic appeared in court as usual, defending himself against 66 counts of war crimes, including genocide, as prosecutors methodically presented their case before three U.N. judges. Ordered to finish by May, the prosecution has asked for a year extension. That would prolong their case well into 2004 before Milosevic begins to present his defense.

Established a decade ago by the U.N. Security Council, the tribunal has publicly indicted about 125 war crimes suspects. Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and Mladic, both wanted for the genocide of thousands of Muslims in Bosnia, are the two most wanted of 23 suspects still at large.

After Milosevic's ouster in 2000, Djindjic pressed ahead with pro-Western reforms, despite fierce opposition.

Chief U.N. Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Djindjic showed courage in putting his career on the line to uphold the authority of the court, and that his death made relations with Belgrade uncertain.

"Djindjic was our first supporter in the cooperation with this office of the tribunal," Del Ponte told Associated Press Television News in The Hague. "We lost our main, important point of connection for our activity," she said.

"I hope that I will very soon speak with someone else who will take the same courageous action as he was doing for us and particularly for his country," said Del Ponte.

On Thursday, authorities investigating the assassination detained Milosevic's former state security chief, Jovica Stanisic, and his deputy, Franko Simatovic, who headed notorious Serb paramilitary units in the Bosnian and Croatian wars of the early 1990s.

The two are believed to have maintained influence among police and organized crime even after Milosevic's ouster in October 2000, and are part of the underworld regime Djindjic sought to uproot. Authorities also suspect they may use their influence to protect indicted war criminals, including Mladic.

"Djindjic decided to clean the system and to go through this deep reform of the police and army, which was a courageous undertaking," prosecution spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said.

Avril McDonald, a war crimes expert at the Asser Institute in the Netherlands, said the U.N. court may be forced to ease pressure on Belgrade to secure Mladic's arrest. Djindjic's murder will make it harder to find a politician willing to press ahead with reforms, she said.

"It is not going to encourage his successor to cooperate with the tribunal," McDonald said. "Arresting Mladic would be a huge political risk, which is why he hasn't been handed over sooner."

The tribunal has entered what it calls its completion strategy, focusing on trials of suspects already in The Hague and finishing investigations on 35-40 high-level officials.

Del Ponte has said the court's work becomes "more and more complex" and that "full cooperation is needed" from Belgrade if the court is to meet a 2008 deadline to wrap up.

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