Serbian shoots himself

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- A former Serbian police chief indicted for war crimes shot himself in the head outside Yugoslavia's parliament Thursday, hours after the legislature adopted a law that allows arrests and extraditions to the U.N. tribunal. \nVlajko Stojiljkovic, who headed the police during former President Slobodan Milosevic's reign and was indicted for crimes against humanity, fired his pistol in front of the federal parliament building downtown. \nMihajlo Mitrovic, head of the emergency room at the Belgrade hospital where Stojiljkovic was taken, said he was in critical condition with a severe gunshot wound to the head. \n"His life is in danger," Mitrovic said. \nA police officer at the scene in front of the parliament said Stojiljkovic walked out of parliament shortly after 7 p.m., appeared to hesitate a few minutes, and then pulled out the pistol and shot himself. He was seen lying in a pool of blood in front of the building's large wooden door. \nHours earlier, parliament passed a law that removes legal obstacles for the arrest and extradition of war crimes suspects -- including top Milosevic associates -- to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where the former Yugoslav president is on trial for his alleged role in atrocities committed by his troops in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. \nSerbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said passage of the law should satisfy the tribunal's demands for extradition of indicted suspects and open the way for the renewal of U.S. financial aid, which is on hold until Secretary of State Colin Powell certifies that Yugoslavia is cooperating with the court. \nThe State Department said Thursday that Powell had not yet made a decision on that issue. A spokesman for the U.N. court criticized the narrow scope of the law, which applies only to suspects who have already been indicted; he emphasized that Yugoslavia's cooperation should be "complete and unconditional." \n"We are more interested in concrete actions, and that means the apprehension and transfer of individuals who have been at large for unacceptable periods of time," spokesman Jim Landale said in The Hague. "We will wait and see." \nPassage of the extradition bill removes the major obstacle cited by opponents of extradition