Milosevic 'linked to assassination bid'

A suspect rounded up after last month’s murder of Serbia’s prime minister has accused former President Slobodan Milosevic of being involved in a 2000 assassination attempt against an opposition leader, officials said today.

Serbian government officials said General Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former army chief of staff who was arrested recently, had said Milosevic was involved in an attempt to kill opposition leader Vuk Draskovic in 2000.

Police arrested Pavkovic in a crackdown following the March 12 sniper killing of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in Belgrade.

The officials said Pavkovic – a close Milosevic ally – told police Milosevic ordered him to provide a military helicopter to transfer Draskovic’s attackers back to Serbia from Montenegro following a failed attempt to kill the opposition leader, a key Milosevic opponent at the time.

The officials also said Pavkovic told police Milosevic gave the order in person during a meeting at which the former state security chief, Radomir Markovic, was present.

The accusation adds to earlier allegations that Milosevic and his wife, Mirjana Markovic, were involved in attacks on their opponents.

Police want to question the two about the August 2000 murder of another Serbian president, Ivan Stambolic, whose body recently was found as part of the Djindjic investigation.