DOS CONCERNED LAW ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY MIGHT NOT BE PASSED

BELGRADE, June 15 (Hina) - Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus called on President Vojislav Kostunica on Friday to explain in parliament the consequences the country would suffer if a law on cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) was not adopted. "We have big problems now and parliament's decision is crucial for the future of the country. It is not just about the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia), guilt and money, it is about (Yugoslavia's) place in Europe and our future," Labus told a news conference in Belgrade. If parliament fails to pass the law, which the government endorsed on Thursday, "we shall no longer have a federal government, a federal state, as there will be no early elections. The DOS (Serbia's ruling coalition) would not run at those elections in its present composition, nor would most Montenegrin parties," said Labus. Representatives of the Democratic Party, whose president is Serb Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, have also said that if the federal parliament fails to adopt the law, Yugoslavia "will again be isolated, under sanctions and facing economic disaster." Montenegro's Socialist People's Party (SNP), DOS' coalition partner on the federal level, today reiterated that its representatives in the federal parliament would vote against the law as it envisaged the extradition of Yugoslav citizens to the Hague tribunal. (hina) ha sb