The Serbian government has rejected opposition allegations that it may have been involved in the killing of the paramilitary leader known as Arkan.

The deputy minister of information, Miodrag Popovic, accused opposition parties of cynically trying to turn the killing to their political advantage.

He said he did not think the death on Saturday of 47-year-old Arkan, whose real name is Zeljko Raznatovic, was politically motivated.

It was more likely, Mr Popovic said, that Arkan's death was linked to his criminal activities.

He dismissed talk of state terrorism by the opposition as "ridiculous".

Arkan was gunned down in the lobby of a plush Belgrade hotel on Saturday.

His bodyguard and a friend were also killed in the hail of bullets. Police have so far failed to issue an official report.

Radmilo Bogdanovic, a senior member of President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party and former interior minister, also played down suggestions that the authorities were to blame.

"The easiest thing for them to do is to call it state terrorism, but I see no way to link those things," Mr Bogdanovic told independent radio B292.

Opposition figures have suggested that Arkan, an indicted war criminal, may have been killed because his close association with President Milosevic meant he had access to sensitive information.

But the chief prosecutor in The Hague, Carla del Ponte, said Arkan had made no contact with the International War Crimes Tribunal to offer testimony in return for a deal.

"We have had no contact with Arkan. Arkan has given us nothing at all. We are inquiring into this case without any contribution from Arkan," she said in response to a question in Brussels.

A well-known Belgian lawyer, Pierre Chome, has said Arkan made contact with him in June to find out what would happen if he gave himself up to authorities in Belgium, where he escaped from prison in 1979.

"I do regret ... that Arkan will not appear in The Hague to answer to the charges, which had been brought against him," Ms Del Ponte added.

"I do remain confident, however, that other persons who shared responsibility with Arkan for his crimes will ultimately be brought to justice."

Serbia's Federal Information Minister, Goran Matic, meanwhile accused the international media of over-reacting to the killing.

He said the recent killing of an Albanian girl in Kosovo, allegedly by an American peacekeeper, had been ignored.

Arkan's Serbian Unity Party said a memorial service for him will be held Wednesday at the Union Hall in Belgrade. The funeral is scheduled for Thursday.