The New York Times

Tuesday, November 30, 1999

Serbs Arrest Former State Agent

By The Associated Press

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Serbian police on Tuesday arrested a former state security agent who recently criticized President Slobodan Milosevic's government and warned of ``state-sponsored terrorism,'' local media reported.

Independent broadcaster Radio B2-92 said that police arrested Bozidar Spasic, a retired high-ranking state security officer and a private detective. According to Spasic's wife, Biljana, the former agent was in police custody at an undisclosed location.

Spasic, often quoted by Serbian media, became a public figure in the early 1990s when he revealed how the Yugoslav secret service used criminals in covert operations abroad.

He recently appeared in a panel discussion on independent Studio B television in which he sharply criticized Milosevic's regime and predicted an increase of ``politically motivated and state-sponsored terrorism.''

Protesting the arrest, Serbia's largest opposition party, the Serbian Renewal Movement, issued a statement saying Spasic was apprehended for ``publicly criticizing state security actions.''

The party said Spasic had demanded authorities disclose who was behind an Oct. 3 traffic accident that it claims was an assassination attempt on its leader, Vuk Draskovic. Four of Draskovic's associates were killed in the crash.