Suspects held over assassination of Serbian leader

POLICE yesterday arrested several members of an underworld network accused of assassinating Serbia's prime minister, a pro-Western leader who made enemies by pushing for the arrest of mobsters and war crimes suspects.

Zarko Korac, Serbia's deputy prime minister, said that "although several arrests were made, many of the suspects are still in hiding and have gone underground".

A government-imposed state of emergency, which curtailed some civil liberties, took effect yesterday, a day after snipers killed Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in downtown Belgrade as he stepped out of his armoured car en route to meetings at a government building.