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Goran Zugic, national security advisor to the president of Montenegro was murdered last night around 11 p.m. in front of his apartment at Save Kovacevic Boulevard 7 in Podgorica.

Zugic was shot multiple times in the head by an automatic weapon, as the Podgorica daily “Vijesti” writes giving unofficial information. As the “Vijesti” writes, Zugic arrived home as usual by his car, “Audi A6” (l.n. PG-12-93), approaching the building from the courtyard, where the vehicle had been parked. Three shots were heard at the time of the murder. Police blocked the surrounding streets, but the pursuit was futile. Zugic’s body was escorted to the Clinical Center by a few dozen special police officers about an hour after midnight.

The murder was executed according to the same scenario used dozens of people in Belgrade in the past year, and the killers were never found, it’s said in the article of the Montenegrin daily, adding that this is the first political assassination of this type in Montenegro.

Goran Zugic was 39 years old. He was considered one of the closest and most reliable associates of President Djukanovic, and had been his national security advisor since March 1998. Prior to that Zugic had been chief of the Security center in Herceg Novi and Podgorica.

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said today that the murder of his security councilor Goran Zugic was ''an act of terorrism with a political background''. In his commemorative speech in Podgorica, Djukanovic said the person who shot Zugic last night has commited an act of terrorism against democracy and security of Montenegro and its citizens.

Djukanovic sent word ''to the ones who are probably gloating over this crime'' that ''Montenegro will not be discouraged to continue the policy which will lead the state towards peaceful and developed European countries. He added that this was the Montenegro Goran Zugic lived for.

He also said that Zugic gave remarkable contributions to stability and eace in Montenegro and save its citizens from death and terrorism, ''He managed to calm down the hot shots, to protect the vulnerable. The only person he did not manage to save was himslef''.

Djukanovic concluded his speech by saying that Montenegro has been hit hard by the crime, because it isn't used to such loathesome acts, since its citizens are trying to befriend their enemies, even in these difficult times

President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro Ratko Vukotic said today that the murder of Goran Zugic had been "obviously planned in advance" and that some assassinations in Serbia were "similar" to this one. He told the press that the last night's assassination of Zugic indicated that a wave of identical kind of violence is being transferred to Montenegro.

Vukotic expressed his hope that the Montenegrin Internal Affairs Ministry would be "more efficient" in solving this murder case than its counterpart in Serbia which, in his words, had not thus far closed a single murder case.

Vice-President of the Montenegrin parliament and Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party Rifat Rastoder qualified today the murder of Goran Zugic, according to available information so far, as 'a typical politically motivated assassination'. Rastoder told Beta that the last night's murder of the Montenegrin President's advisor for security issues is conspicuously similar to assassinations taking place in Serbia.

Bearing in mind that this gruesome criminal act took place on the eve of the local elections in Montenegro and 'the critical culmination' of strained relations between Montenegro and Serbia, I fear that at issue here is an undisguised desperate attempt to import 'gunfight' style of politics from Serbia to Montenegro in order to provide the pretext for possible introduction of the state of emergency in Montenegro, said Rastoder.

He expressed his hope that the Montenegrin citizens would recognise the consequences generated by such a policy and that all the Montenegrins would oppose to it.

The Socialist People's Party (SNP) of Montenegro has sent a telegram today to the family of the deceased, the sources from this Montenegrin opposition party reported. The statement was signed by one of the SNP leaders Vuksan Simonovic.

Liberal Alliance (LS) President and Montenegrin MP Miroslav Vickovic said today that LS "was horrified but not surprised by the murder of the advisor to the Montenegrin President Goran Zugic. "LS has been warning the public for quite some time that Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, will inevitably become another Belgrade", Vickovic told the press. In his view, it is a fact that the last thin dividing line between politics and crime has been wiped out.

The Serbian government has taken over the management of the Belgrade public transport company (GSP), Nikola Sainovic, senior official of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, told a press conference.

A group of ten people headed by Zlatan Perucic, President of the municipal board of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, and Zoran Milosevic, former President of the Belgrade City Assembly Executive Council, held a meeting with the deputy general director of GSP Petar Ilic, technical director of the machinery facilities Misa Markovic and technical director of electric vehicles department Dragan Ivkovic.

Nikola Sainovic, the Socialist Party of Serbia senior official, told a press conference today that the Serbian government reached a decision at its today's session to take over the management of GSP because of the grave difficulties plaguing the Belgrade public transport company due to "its poor management" on the part of the opposition city government.

"This gesture is an act of grand self-sacrifice of the Serbian government and a proof of its determination to resolve the problems which should have been tackled by the city government", Sainovic told the press going on to say that the Belgrade government "had inflicted considerable damage to the public transportation system in the capital".

He also said that "GSP was plagued by criminal activities which are bound to surface now" and accused the city authorities of "rackets" imposed on the private bus owners engaged in the public transport system.

By means of the Belgrade tax revenue (a tax collected in the capital only for the city budget), already usurped for the past few months by the authorities, and the Russian credit, Serbian government might as well provide 900 transport vehicles in the streets for the public transport system, Belgrade Secretary for Public Transport Tvrtko Gavranovic told Beta today.

With 100 million dinars from the city government and 120 million dinars out 350-4000 million dinars of the Belgrade tax revenue, now blocked by the Serbian government, all the problems of the Belgrade public transport company (GSP) would be instantly gone, Gavranovic claimed and went on to say that he would love to be the GSP receiver if someone gave him the money.

I hope that the Serbian government will take over Belgrade as well so that everything will be just fine, said Gavranovic. When asked whether he was serious about the possibility of the Serbian government taking over direct control of Belgrade, he gave an affirmative reply.

Bratislav Stamenkovic, People's Parliament President from Leskovac, a southern Serbian city, was taken into custody for interrogation this morning around 9 a.m., the People's Parliament, a local NGO, reported. The police were interested in information regarding a panel discussion organised by this local NGO last night. Stamenkovic was subsequently released after an hour spent the police station. He was told that the reason for his detention was the fact that the panel discussion was not previously reported to the police.

Leaders of the opposition parties and coalitions will gather on the premises of the Democratic Centre in Belgrade tomorrow to hold a new meeting. Further strategy of the opposition bloc will be discussed at the meeting and the appointment of the new unified opposition co-ordinator will also be on the agenda. A representative of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) should be appointed to the post.

Gvozden Rosic, a member of the Renewal Movement leadership, stated that he could not say when precisely SPO would be in charge of co-ordinating the activities of the opposition bloc because "it depended on internal mutual agreement among the opposition parties".

Otpor activist Ivan Marovic has announced today that the representatives of this organisation will attend the tomorrow's meeting of the opposition parties and coalitions. At the meeting to be held on the premises of the Democratic Centre headquarters he expects that the opposition will clarify its position in relation to the action plan proposed by Otpor movement. Marovic told FoNet news agency that he expects a concrete response of the opposition bloc whether it will embrace this plan or not.

Vukadin Milojevic, president of the Military Court in Nis stated yesterday that the incarceration of Miroslav Filipovic, correspondent for the Belgrade daily “Danas” and AFP from Kraljevo, has been extended and that the investigation against him continues.

Filipovic is accused of espionage and spreading false information. The Milittary Court Council has rejected the appeal by Filipovic’s attorney Goran Draganic, filed May 29. By law Filipovic can remain in jail until June 18 at the latest, said Draganic.

Belgrade weekly NIN and its Editor-in-Chief Stevan Niksic were fined 230,000 dinars in total today under the Public Information Act. Magistrate Slavica Kajganic ruled that NIN should pay 150,000 dinars in fines and its Editor-in-Chief another 80,000 dinars on charges of defamation brought by a gynaecologist Milos Ognjenovic from Vozdovac health centre. Ognjenovic alleged that his reputation and honour were injured in the article published in NIN under the title "A Cry for the yet Unborn" on June 3 last year.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has announced today that its staff and associates are still unable to gain access to the association's premises and equipment on the seventeenth and eighteenth floors of the Beogradjanka building, two weeks after the seizure of Studio B. The premises are still blocked by police, with no legal justification despite the fact that these premises have no connection with Studio B nor have they ever had any such connection. ANEM leased the premises from the Department for Business Premises of the City of Belgrade, it is stated in the press release. "ANEM again appeals to the appropriate state bodies to release the offices on the seventeenth and eighteenth floors of Beogradjanka which have obviously been usurped illegally."

Average net personal income in Yugoslavia in April amounted to 2,153 dinars (about 95 DEM) and was nominally 9.4% higher than in March, while its real value rose 5.6 %. According to the most recent survey of the Federal Statistics Department, those employed in the sector of non-ferrous metals production received the highest wages - 5,766 dinars, then workers of the state electric company - 5,174 dinars and the employees of the business associations - 5,099 dinars.

The workers in the following sectors received the lowest wages in April: leather industry - 610 dinars, textile and garment manufacturing industries - 659 dinars and textile fabrics and linen industries - 824 dinars.

Average April wage in Serbia totalled 2,022 dinars while in Montenegro an average April wage was 3,870 dinars. Compared to the previous month, the wages were increased 9.8% in Serbia and 6.8% in Montenegro. The highest wages receive those employed in Vojvodina, the northern part of the country - 2,226 dinars and in central Serbia an average wage for April amounted to 1,948 dinars. There have been no data available from Kosovo and Metohija, the southern Serbian province, since March last year.

Two bomb attacks were made on houses owned by Serbs in Obilic last night, but there were no casualties, say Serb sources in Kosovo.

One person of Serbian nationality was killed and three were wounded from automatic fire in the village of Klokot along the Urosevac-Gnjilane motorway, say Serb sources in Kosovo.

Radio amateurs told Beta agency that agroup of armed Albanians open fire at a group of Serbs working in their fileds near the Orthodox graveyard near Klokot. The same source said that Lepterka Marinkovic (67) was killed, while Petar Tomic (33), Dobrivoje Radic (50) and Mladen Mirkovic (68) were wounded and rushed to the American base Bondsteel near Urosevac for treatment.

The chain of incidents that have struck the inhabitants of Klokot village since the arrival of KFOR to the are has produced nine dead and 20 wounded Serbs. The worst happened on November 17 last year, when two Serbs were killed and sixed wounded after a mortar attack on the village.

International forces in Kosovo have announced today that two Norwegian soldiers, members of KFOR, were lightly injured when the Serbs burnt their vehicle. The soldiers on their way to verify the news of the shooting came across a large number of infuriated Serbs in the village Babin Most. They overturned the vehicle and burnt it, said KFOR spokesman. He added that the situation was calm after the incident and that the most of the people went home. No details on this incident are available for the time being. However, it has been confirmed that no firearms were used.

Pristina District Court has adjourned today the main hearing in the trial of Slobodan Joksimovic from the village Radovo near Lipljan in Kosovo. Joksimovic (1948) was arrested on July 9 last year. Criminal charges of an attempted murder on July 9, 1999, of a Kosovo Albanian were brought against Joksimovic in September last year.

According to the today's ruling of the Trial Chamber Chairman Esad Leci the main hearing is to be adjourned indefinitely due to the note received from UN mission chief Bernard Kouchner regarding the new appointment of the Polish judge Klamariska Milard to the post of the Pristina District Court President. The Kouchner's note did not clarify whether the Polish judge was appointed as the member of the Trial Chamber or its presiding judge.

The Republic of Srpska Railways (ZRS) has been admitted to the Committee of International Transport (CIT) a full member of this international organisation. The admittance of the Republic of Srpska Railways has been verified at the session of the CIT General Assembly in Bern, Switzerland, reported Onasa news agency.

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