Yugoslav coalition nears collapse

Pro-Milosevic protesters are gathering in Belgrade

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Yugoslavia's prime minister Zoran Zizic has resigned from the federal government taking the ruling coalition to the brink of collapse.

The move, which came the day after Serbia handed over former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the U.N. to face war crime charges, is intended to place pressure on the federal government.

As the coalition government seemed to collapse, about 6,000 supporters of Milosevic were gathering in Belgrade on Friday night.

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Some shouting "Treason!" and "Let's Rise Up!" massed in front of Belgrade's federal parliament to protest the Serbian government decision to surrender the former president.

"This is outrage. This is banditry. This is a blatant violation of all laws," said Miodrag Sekulic, 56, a retired teacher from Belgrade and a staunch Milosevic supporter.

But the turnout was disappointing, and it showed how popular support for Milosevic has dwindled since his nationalist campaigns led to four Balkan wars.

Most Serbs expressed relief at the prospect of putting his 13-year era of ruinous rule behind them.

"This is like removing a cancer," said Milica Vidojevic, 19. "This man's mere existence in this country was poison to us all."

Without Zizic and other Montenegrin members of the cabinet, the current coalition, which also contains pro-democracy Serbian ministers, can not govern.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica now has two choices -- to appoint a new prime minister or to ask parliament to call new federal elections.

The current Yugoslav government is made up of ministers from the two Yugoslav republics -- Serbia and Montenegro -- and its collapse could hasten the collapse of the republic.

A caretaker government will remain in place.

CNN's Alessio Vinci said Zizic's announcement could even lead to a split between Serbia and the much smaller Montenegro.

Zizic said the extradition of Milosevic was "illegal and unconstitutional."

He resigned at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

The leader of the Montenegrin faction in the government, Predrag Bulatovic, said the move means an end of the Serb-Montenegrin coalition at the federal level.

Zizic has resigned as Yugoslav prime minister

Kostunica has also described the Serbian government's unilateral move as "illegal and unconstitutional," saying the extradition was carried out without respect for legal procedure.

Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, who oversaw the extradition effort, said there was no choice but to surrender Milosevic or face renewed international isolation and the loss of much-needed foreign aid.

Meanwhile, Serbia's president, who was indicted by the tribunal along with Milosevic, may soon surrender to the court, an official said on Friday.

Milan Milutinovic is "considering" giving himself up now that Milosevic is in The Hague to face trial on charges of crimes against humanity, an Interior Ministry official told the Associated Press.

Both men face charges in connection with alleged atrocities committed by Serb troops against ethnic Albanians during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, a province of Serbia.