Rift Within Serbian Ruling Coalition [Djindjic demands removal of Tomic].

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- A rift within the country´s ruling coalition deepened Friday as the Yugoslav president rejected a demand by his archrival, the Serbian prime minister, to fire the military secret service chief at the center of a U.S. spy affair.

The prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, has demanded that President Vojislav Kostunica remove Gen. Aca Tomic for failing to inform the Serbian government of an operation that resulted in a dramatic arrest last week of Djindjic´s deputy, Momcilo Perisic, and a senior U.S. diplomat.

Djindjic has expressed outrage that the military intelligence service had followed and wiretapped his deputy for more than five months, without informing the government. He has said that if Kostunica, who is in charge of the army, does not sack Tomic, the Serbian government won´t cooperate with the Yugoslav president on state security issues.

"I would remove Gen. Tomic only if I was sure that he breached existing regulations," Kostunica told the Blic daily. "However, everything points to the fact that this was not the case and that Gen. Tomic, (military) security and the Yugoslav army have acted according to the existing regulations."

Djindjic´s party deputy, Goran Vesic, commented Friday: "It is interesting how Kostunica is protecting and clinging to (former President Slobodan) Milosevic´s pillars of power."

The military said Perisic, who was released Saturday, was giving documents to the diplomat, John David Neighbor, that were "relevant for the defense of the country." Other Yugoslav officials have said the documents could have been used against Milosevic at his U.N. war crimes trial in The Hague, Netherlands.

In a breach of international conventions, Neighbor was held incommunicado for 15 hours, and reportedly beaten up with a hood over his head.

Both Perisic -- a former top Yugoslav army commander who served under Milosevic until he was fired in 1998 for opposing a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo -- and the U.S. Embassy have denied that any espionage took place.

Djindjic said the true goal of the arrest was to undermine his government. His aides said this was timed to prevent possible arrests of more Serb war crimes suspects and their extradition to The Hague.

The U.S. Congress has set a March 31 deadline for Yugoslav authorities to cooperate with the U.N. tribunal or forfeit much-needed financial aid.

Kostunica, a nationalist, protested when Djindjic, a pro-Western pragmatist, engineered Milosevic´s extradition to the tribunal last June. Kostunica has continued to defy international demands to hand over about a dozen other suspects, including top officials of Milosevic´s fallen regime.

In the interview with Blic, Kostunica reiterated that the extradition of Serbs to The Hague without the adoption of legislation that would allow it "is not a good solution."

The prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, has demanded that President Vojislav Kostunica remove Gen. Aca Tomic for failing to inform the Serbian government of an operation that resulted in a dramatic arrest last week of Djindjic´s deputy, Momcilo Perisic, and a senior U.S. diplomat.

First of all, Serbian Prime Minister cannot possibly boss Yugoslav President around. His jurisdiction is clearly outlined in the Constitution. It's tantamount to Jessy Ventura (I know he's an ex-Governor, but for the sake of argument...) demanding GWB remove a general from the U.S. Army.

Secondly, Yugoslav Army is not required to inform the Serbian government of anything. The Army is a federal institution. Does the U.S. Army report to each and every U.S. state?

Djindjic´s party deputy, Goran Vesic, commented Friday: "It is interesting how Kostunica is protecting and clinging to (former President Slobodan) Milosevic´s pillars of power."

Wow, the spineless Vesich has spoken. What's interesting is the fact that Zoran Djindjich has taken over Miloshevich's state apparatus and is using it the same way Miloshevich did. The Serbian State Security and the police were Miloshevich's pillars of power, not the Army. The Army was instrumental to Miloshevich's departure from power. Had the Army backed Miloshevich that fateful October day, Djindjich probably wouldn't be alive today.

Djindjich controls EVERYTHING but the Army. Therefore, every comment, objection and demand from his clique should be observed through this prism. Djindjich is hard at work removing the last obstacle to his absolute power and, luckily, not everything is going as planned.

Both Perisic -- a former top Yugoslav army commander who served under Milosevic until he was fired in 1998 for opposing a crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo -- and the U.S. Embassy have denied that any espionage took place.

Yeah, sure. What this article fails to mention is the single most important piece of information! The U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia William Montgomery saw the entire KOS video. After having seen it, he said: "Congratulations on a job well done."

Does this sound like a denial to you? At the time of the arrest, Neighbour showed his CIA ID. Everything is on the tape.

Gen. Tomich should be given a medal, and Djindjich should be sent to jail for treason. His government is a joke. It's inefficient, corrupt and dictatorial. It's also full of spies.

As for Perishich, he was removed because he had squandered the Army's money (oh, just ask the Air Force!) and for refusing to obey the orders of the Supreme Commander. It is also possible that he was removed because of his close relationship with WESLEY CLARK, whom he had met more than a few times in 1997 and 1998. This is when he was blackmailed (for his role in Croatia) into handing Yugoslav top secret documents over to the US. Perishich couldn't have possibly been allowed to continue leading the Army. THAT is why he was fired, not because he "opposed Miloshevich's crackdown" on Albanians.

No sane person opposed Miloshevich's policy on Kosovo, or rather, on Albanian islamofascist terrorists (law-abiding Albanians had no reason to fear!). It's like opposing Bush on Al-Qaida! The only ones opposing him were the Serbian equivalents of Jane Fonda - Natasha Kandich, Biljana Srbljanovich, Petar Lukovich and the other lowlife scum.

Djindjich should be sent to jail for treason

sorry, disagree. Rule of law should be followed and as much as I hate to say this.....Djindic shouldn't be imprisioned for crimes committed while in office......it is part of democratic norms enshrined in the Yugo constitution....Djindic should be either removed from office via parlimentry procedure (ie DSS joining with the other parties to form a governing majority) or new elections should be called or Djindic should be impeached (I believe his violation of the Constitutional Court's ruling on extrdiction is enough to impeach him).......but he can't be sent to prison fo crimes committed while in office.

otherwise, I agree 100% with your statements.

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