TALKS FAIL - DOS COALITION WITHDRAWS BILL ON COOPERATION WITH ICTY

BELGRADE, June 21 (Hina) - Representatives of Serbia's ruling coalition DOS and Montenegro's Socialist People's Party (SNP) on Thursday failed to reach an agreement on the adoption of a law on cooperation between Yugoslavia and the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, and DOS was forced to withdraw the bill from parliamentary procedure. Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic, who participated in today's talks, said DOS would make a final decision on "the model of cooperation with the ICTY" this evening. This could mean that DOS will "activate" its "alternative plan" on cooperation with the ICTY, which Batic called "with or without a law." DOS could also transfer the law to the level of the Serbian assembly, where the coalition holds a two-third majority, which is another "spare option" on cooperation with the Hague court. Today's talks revolved around a proposal by Montenegro's People's Party, which, together with the SNP, makes up the Montenegrin coalition "For Yugoslavia", that the hand-over of indictees to the ICTY be regulated in line with the Yugoslav Penal Code. The Yugoslav parliament was scheduled to hold a session today but DOS made another concession to the SNP and asked that the session be postponed for Friday hoping that a compromise solution could be found in the meantime. The Yugoslav government adopted the bill on cooperation with the ICTY with a majority vote and sent it into parliamentary procedure at a session a week ago. DOS' coalition partners from Montenegro's SNP, whose member is Yugoslav Prime Minister Zoran Zizic, voted against the bill at the session. During the last week, DOS leaders warned SNP representatives in the federal government that, should they refuse to endorse the bill on cooperation with the ICTY, a rift could occur in the federal government, which would accelerate the break-up of federal authorities and the joint state. (hina) rml