SERBIAN MINISTER: RED BERETS WILL BE ORGANISED AS SEPARATE UNIT

BELGRADE, Nov 20 (Hina) - Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said on Tuesday the ministry's unit for special operations would not be part of any of the ministry's two sectors but would operate as "a separate unit." Mihajlovic told reporters the unit, also known as the Red Berets, would be used exclusively with the consent of the Serbian government for the most serious anti-terrorist tasks which could not be performed by regular police. The statement explained to some extent the new set-up of the special police, although it was officially stated after last week's negotiations following a riot of the Red Berets that the unit would be transferred from the state security sector to the public security sector. The minister did not give a direct answer when asked if the Red Berets would be in charge of arresting indictees of the Hague war crimes tribunal, as the Red Berets stated during last week's riot they would no longer arrest ICTY indictees. Mihajlovic said the Interior Ministry had a special department of inspectors dealing with war crimes and the arrest of war criminals did not differ from the arrest of other indictees. (hina) sb rml