Kostunica quits Serbian Government

Yugoslavia's leaders seem as far apart as ever

The party of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has said it is withdrawing its ministers from the Serbian Government.

The party, the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), said it was dissatisfied with the government's efforts to fight crime.

The Democratic Party of Serbia is no longer ready to collude in the self-deceiving of the government, as well as the deceiving of the people

Statement by the Democratic Party of Serbia

The party, which has frequently been at odds with other members of Serbia's governing 18-party reform alliance, has become embroiled in a fierce row sparked by the killing of a former secret police official.

The decision will leave the coalition without Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Pravdic and Health Minister Obren Joksimovic.

All the DSS' s assistant and deputy ministers will also quit.

Rampant crime

Mr Kostunica's party went on state TV to announce its decision, attacking the government's "unsatisfactory" record on fighting organised crime.

Djindjic saw the allegations of links to organsied crime as an attempt to smear him

"The Democratic Party of Serbia is no longer ready to collude in the self-deceiving of the government, as well as the deceiving of the people," the statement read.

The dispute erupted when a newspaper reported that a former secret policeman, Momir Gavrilovic, had visited Mr Kostunica's offices to pass on information alleged to link senior government figures to organised crime.

Shortly after the visit, on 3 August, Mr Gavrilovic was murdered.

Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, widely seen as a rival to Mr Kostunica, saw the newspaper report as part of a smear campaign against his government.

The alliance has weathered other storms in the past - chiefly that over the extradition of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.