US AMBASSADOR TO BELGRADE ON UNFREEZING OF FORMER YU ACCOUNTS

BELGRADE, April 12 (Hina) - The unfreezing of the accounts of the former Yugoslav federation in the United States should not be dealt with by the US administration but by the successors to the former Yugoslavia, US Ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery said. #L# The United States would unfreeze the accounts immediately, but it does not have the consent of other successor-countries and without such an agreement the assets could become a matter of litigation and there is a danger nobody ever gets them, the ambassador said in an interview with the daily "Danas". He welcomed a decision by the Serbian government to discontinue the current state of emergency (declared after the assassination of Premier Zoran Djindjic on March 12) by the end of the month. Montgomery said that all sides, including the Serbian government, were aware that a state of emergency was a serious matter. He said his country welcomed the decision to end the state of emergency, but it did not want to criticise the Serbian government in the current situation which he said was crucial for the country's future. Montgomery said the Serbian government had made great progress in the fight against organised crime in the country and he therefore did not want to criticise it. US Secretary of State Colin Powell recently visited Belgrade to express support to the Serbian government, pay tribute to the assassinated premier and extend condolences to his family, he said. (hina) rml