4 arrested, 2 more sought in Draskovic shooting

June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 7:16 p.m. EDT (2316 GMT)

In this story: Draskovic blamed Milosevic String of unexplained assassinations RELATED STORIES, SITES

PODGORICA, Montenegro (CNN) -- Four people have been arrested and charged in the attempt to assassinate Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic, Montenegrin Interior Ministry sources said Tuesday. Two others were being sought.

Montenegrin television showed pictures of two brothers and two other people under detention by Montenegrin police.

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Ministry officials said the suspects had rented an apartment about 100 meters from an apartment Draskovic had rented in Budva.

Draskovic was slightly wounded late Thursday when gunmen fired through a window into his apartment. One bullet grazed his head. Another tore through an ear lobe.

Montenegrin police said the attackers used 7.65 mm handguns. They said a number of other weapons had been found in the suspects' apartment.

The suspects had been in Budva in May and June at the same time as Draskovic, Interior Ministry officials said.

The charismatic opposition leader, who claims the most support among opposition leaders in Serbia, which is Yugoslavia's dominant republic, has claimed the government tried to kill him last year in a road accident that killed four close aides. Officials from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government have denied those charges.

Draskovic blamed Milosevic for Friday's attack and said he was without his bodyguards only because Serbian authorities had recently arrested them after he returned from a visit to Russia.

The shooting on Thursday followed a string of mysterious assassinations of officials and underworld figures in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Earlier this month, Goran Zugic, the security adviser to Montenegro's pro-Western President Milo Djukanovic, was gunned down in front of his home in Podgorica shortly before two key local elections.

Milosevic's government blames Western agents it says are intent on destroying and occupying Serbia.

Serbia's most notorious warlord, Zeljko Raznatovic, known as Arkan, was killed in Belgrade in January. One month later, Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic was shot dead in a restaurant in the Yugoslav capital.

The government has cracked down on dissent this year, accusing Draskovic and other opposition leaders of "terrorism."

From Belgrade Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci

Serb opposition leader blames Milosevic for attempt on his life
June 16, 2000
Serb opposition leader wounded in assassination attempt, party officials say
June 15, 2000
Yugoslav opposition leader: 'Behead' Milosevic's 'empire of evil'
October 6, 1999

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