Milosevic ally kills himself in front of Serb Parliament

Former Serbian interior minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, wanted by the UN War crimes tribunal, killed himself outside the Yugoslav parliament today shortly after MPs passed a law allowing his extradition.

He pulled out a gun not long after talking to a socialist MP and shot himself in the head.

Parliament in Belgrade had just approved the extradition law for those sought by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague and officials predicted that all suspects in the country including top associates of Slobodan Milosevic - will soon be handed over to the same court that is now trying the former president.

The bill removed the last legal obstacles to hand-over of war crimes suspects to the UN court in the Netherlands and paved the way for authorities to begin arrests.

‘‘We have finally put a full stop on our sad past here today,’’ said Vladan Batic, the justice minister in Serbia, Yugoslavia’s larger republic.

About 20 suspects are believed in Yugoslavia. Those likely to be arrested first are top Milosevic associates indicted along with him for alleged participation in atrocities during the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict.

They named included Stojiljkovic and former army commander, General. Dragoljub Ojdanic.

Yugoslav Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic predicted quick arrests, saying he expected ‘‘all the suspects will be handed over to The Hague tribunal by May 1.’’