BBC News Online: World: Europe

Serbian warlord's ally shot dead

Arkan commanded this Serbian militia group

An associate of the late paramilitary leader, Arkan, has been shot and killed in Belgrade, the latest in a long line of gangland killings in Serbia.

Slavko Mijovic was shot in a Belgrade cafe shortly after midnight on Thursday by an unknown attacker, who fired around thirty shots from an automatic rifle.

Another man was injured in the attack but survived.

Arkan, whose real name was Zeljko Raznatovic, was himself gunned down in a Belgrade hotel in January 1999.

Killings continue

He led a notorious Serb paramilitary unit during the Croatian and Bosnian wars, and was accused of countless atrocities against the civilian population.

He was indicted by the Hague War Crimes Tribunal in 1997.

Politician, businessman and paramilitary leader, his career illustrated the close ties between the government and the gangsters.

Four men, including a former police officer, are now on trial for his murder.

The killings of prominent politicians and mafia leaders continued after Arkan's death, but most of them had links to Slobodan Milosevic.