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Serbia was under a state of emergency Thursday with security forces on high alert following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, a pivotal figure in the downfall of former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Djindjic, 50, was gunned down by unknown assasilants in a broad daylight in the car park of a Serbian government building in Belgrade.

The attack immediately triggered fears that the region, still scarred by years of bloody conflict, could once again be destabilised.

The Serbian government accused a group led by Milorad Lukovic, a former commander of a Serbian special police unit, of carrying out the killing in a bid to end a crackdown on organised crime.

Serbia's acting president Natasa Micic proclaimed a state of emergency in the republic, saying the measures would be in force until those repsonsible were caught.

And the army of the recently established nation of Serbia and Montenegro was been put on high alert, the Supreme Defense Council, the country's top military body, said after an emergency session.

"This was a criminal act, an attempt by those who in previous years tried to halt Serbia's development and its democratisation ... to isolate Serbia again and turn it into a kingdom of criminals," said Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic.

The government later said in a statement that Djindjic's assassination was an attempt by Lukovic's group to "halt the fight against organized crime."

The group had "tried to spark chaos and fear in Serbia" by killing Djindjic, it said.

Lukovic headed the special police unit which in October 2000 refused Milosevic's orders to crack down on pro-reform protestors who demanded his ouster.

But after Milosevic was transferred to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague in June 2001 on Djindjic's orders, Lukovic as well as a number of special policemen said they were opposed to the decision.

The government said that arrest warrants for the 20 main suspects in the criminal group were due to have been issued on Wednesday, as a result of an investigation by the Serbian government in its fight against organized crime.

"They might have heard about the arrests," Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac told reporters, urging the media to "help the government" in finding the prime minister's murderers.

Dozens of people were queuing to lay flowers and light candles shortly before midnight in front of the government building, just meters (yards) away from the parking lot where Djindjic was shot.

The government announced three days of mourning as messages of sympathy and condemnation poured in from world leaders.

"History will remember Prime Minister Djindjic for his strong leadership during Serbia's successful struggle to end the dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic," US President George W. Bush said in a statement.

European leaders appealed for Serbia not to allow the murder to halt new-found democracy in the region after the bloody break-up of the Balkans in the 1990s.

"We must not allow this terrible crime to set back the progress being made by his country towards joining the rest of the European family," EU external relations commissioner Chris Patten said.

Djindjic, married and father of two, was taken to hospital after being hit with two bullets in the chest and the back in the car park of the Serbian government offices in Belgrade at around 12:45 pm (1145 GMT).

Witnesses said he had been shot at from a nearby ruined building that was once a military headquarters but was destroyed in the 1999 NATO bombings on Belgrade.

Radio B92 said two people had been arrested following the attack, the second in less than a month against Djindjic, a reformist who became the head of Serbia's first non-communist government in January 2001.

In late February, a lorry cut in front of his motorcade but Djindjic, a married father of two, escaped unharmed.

His bitter rival, the former Yugoslav president Vojislav Kostunica who replaced Milosevic, described the killing as "appalling".

"(It is) a terrible wake-up-call which shows the very short distance we have travelled in our efforts to achieve real democracy in our society," he said.

The elegant Djindjic, once an anarchist student leader, was a key figure in organising mass demonstrations against Milosevic in October 2000.

In June 2001, his government decided to transfer Milosevic to the UN tribunal in the Hague, provoking a serious rift amid Serbian reformers, notably deep divisions between Djindjic and Kostunica.

The trail of blood from political and underworld assassinations in recent years stretches to the top ranks of the Serbian elite. Police say there have been 45 murders linked to mafia gangs since Milosevic was ousted two years ago.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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