BELGRADE: WAR CRIMES INDICTEE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF PARLIAM.

BELGRADE, April 11 (Hina) - Serbia's former interior minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, an indictee of the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague, shot himself in the head shortly after 7 pm in front of the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade on Thursday. #L# Witnesses say that Stojiljkovic, born in 1937, stopped for a moment after exiting the parliament, took out a gun and shot himself in the head. Witnesses add that he showed signs of life and was taken to a hospital. At the moment there is no reliable information as to whether Stojiljkovic is alive. According to the latest reports, doctors are fighting for his life. Aleksandar Vucic, a former Serbian information minister, read to reporters what he claims is Stojiljkovic's farewell letter, in which Stojiljkovic says his act is a protest against the recent passing of a law on Yugoslavia's cooperation with the Hague tribunal. Stojiljkovic held the office of Serbia's interior minister from 1997 until 5 October 2000, when the incumbent DOS coalition defeated Slobodan Milosevic. The Hague tribunal accused Stojiljkovic, Milosevic, and another three officials of war crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999. Stojiljkovic was one of the potential passengers for the Netherlands after the cooperation law was adopted earlier today. He did not participate in the federal parliament's session at which the law was adopted. The area around the parliament has been blocked by police. An investigation is underway. (hina) ha sb