MIRA MARKOVIC DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY CRIMES

BELGRADE, March 31 (Hina) - While the Serbian police are tracking Mira Markovic, the president of the Yugoslav Left party and wife of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, she sent a letter to a Podgorica daily, "Publika", saying she was "in no relation to any crime in Yugoslavia" and that she was "aware of the untrue and abhorrent accusations against her", Serbian electronic media reported. #L# In the letter, she wrote she had left Belgrade "at the end of February for personal and family reasons," but did not say where she was at the moment. Markovic described police allegations as "politically motivated retaliation" with the aim of removing her from the public scene and "destabilising" her husband. She believes that the allegations against her are "retaliation for the wonderful, dignified, clever and brilliant personality of Slobodan Milosevic before the Hague-based tribunal". "They want to kill him, because of what he is like," she said in the letter. Milosevic's daughter Marija told Publika yesterday that she had informed her mother about "news from Belgrade, and that she is in Russia visiting her son Marko Milosevic". Police are suspecting Markovic and Milosevic for participating in the killing of Milosevic's political rival Ivan Stambolic in August 2000. Serbian Vice-Premier Zarko Korac told Belgrade media today that an international arrest warrant would be issued against Markovic later in the day. He voiced conviction that Russia would extradite Markovic so she may give a deposition. Korac said that among the five persons arrested on suspicion of killing the former chairman of the Serbian Presidency, Ivan Stambolic, was also a commander of the Special Operations Unit, or the so-called Red Berets, Dusan Maricic Gumar. (hina) lml sb