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Serb PM assassination: 56 arrested
BELGRADE, Serbia (CNN) -- A Serbian police manhunt for the killers of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic yielded the arrests of 56 low-ranking members of a criminal gang responsible the assassination, the government says. However, authorities say the snipers who pumped bullets into the reformist, pro-Western politician on Wednesday are still at large. The government said an "organized crime syndicate, known as the Zemun Gang, "is made up of around 200 criminals, against whom police have so far brought over 300 charges for criminals acts." Milorad Lukovic, also known as "Legija" -- a former Serbian paramilitary commander -- is the most prominent of those gang leaders publicly named and still being sought by Serbian authorities. "The assassination," the government said, "represents an attempt to halt the government's fight against organized crime and for members of the crime syndicate to avoid arrest." The government has declared a state of emergency, and police have fanned out across Belgrade, stopping buses and cars, checking for suspects. Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial has been erected near the site of the shooting, outside the Serbian government building where snipers using high-velocity firearms struck the prime minister early Wednesday afternoon. Djindjic was hit twice and died of his wounds at a nearby hospital. "Citizens are still gathering," the government said, "lighting candles and laying flowers to pay their final respects." Serbs, world leaders, political parties and associations have sent letters of condolences to the Djindjic family and the Serbian government. Condolence books were available in the hall of the government building, the Democratic Party headquarters, and at the embassy of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro in Ljubljana in Slovenia. Flags on state institutions in Serbia and embassies abroad are flying at half-staff. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday he would sign a condolence book at Belgrade's embassy on behalf of the Bush administration. Djindjic "was as committed a public servant to his people and his nation as I've ever known, and his loss will be felt deeply," Powell told a U.S. House subcommittee.
"I don't know where it's going to lead," Powell said. "But I think a new element of fragility and vulnerability has been put back into a region where we felt we were getting on top of it, and we're watching it very closely." Three official days of mourning beginning Thursday have been announced, and Serbia's parliament held a "commemorative session" Thursday that was attended by government officials. Peter Schieder, president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, called for the committee of ministers to allow Serbia and Montenegro to become a full member of the council during the regular spring session set for March 31 to April 4, the government said, quoting a local news report. Djindjic, 50, played a key role in the overthrow of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic and personified Serbia's postwar future. Djindjic put himself out on a limb to meet Western demands for aid by handing over Milosevic and other war criminals to The Hague and fighting organized crime. His reformist pro-Western stance drew opposition from many Serbian nationalists and created many enemies. Serbia, with a population of 10.5 million, is one of two republics in the nation of Serbia and Montenegro, formed this year from the former Yugoslavia. They had been the only two republics remaining in Yugoslavia after the six-member socialist federation collapsed in the 1990s. -- CNN Correspondent Matthew Chance contributed to this report.
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