Terrorists Threaten Serbia's Leadership

Members of the Serbian political top have received hate mail whose authors threaten to make short work of them. Two illegal organizations, which call themselves the Butterflies and the Serbian Falcons, have sent in letters voicing their intention to liquidate Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and other members of his Cabinet, says Serbia's Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic. Mihajlovic read out terrorist letters via a local television network; among other things, those letters say that leaders of the ruling coalition, e.g. those of Serbia's democratic opposition, will either be killed or kidnapped. Another letter signed by the Serbian Falcons also threatens the country's leaders, their families, and mass-media personnel. The fight against organized crime has begun, Mihajlovic stressed. According to the national Interior Ministry, the Serbian underworld has 35,000 members and there are 70,000-80,000 unregistered firearms in the republic.