MONTENEGRO: FUNERAL OF DEFENCE MINISTER BULATOVIC

Описание: (9 Feb 2000) Natural Sound

Hundreds of mourners have turned out to pay their last respects to Yugoslavia's slain defence minister, gunned down as he ate in a Belgrade restaurant on Monday.

The coffin bearing the body of Pavle Bulatovic arrived overnight in the capital of Montenegro, the tiny republic where the minister came from.

Montenegro, which along with Serbia forms what's left of Yugoslavia, is deeply divided between supporters of federalism and independence.

Many suspect that Bulatovic's strong support for Belgrade may have been the reason for his killing.

A military guard of honour was on hand to meet the coffin of the slain Yugoslav defence minister, as he made his final journey home to Montenegro.

Pavle Bulatovic, a native of this tiny Yugoslav republic, was gunned down in a Belgrade restaurant on Monday night - only a month after a similar hit on the feared paramilitary leader Arkan.

In Belgrade, the federal government blamed the attack on Western powers opposed to the Milosevic regime.

The Yugoslav information minister Goran Matic said he believed foreign governments were using local criminal gangs to carry out hits in a bid to destabilise the Yugoslav federation.

But others inside the country pointed to the deeply divided loyalties within Montenegro as an explanation for the crime.

Tiny Montenegro is deeply divided between those who support the federal alliance with Serbia and others who want the local government to demand full independence.

Bulatovic's fervent support for Belgrade has led to speculation that the killing may be in someway linked to the Montenegrin issue.

The hundreds of mourners who gathered at the funeral chapel on Wednesday came almost exclusively from the pro-Belgrade camp.

Federal Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, no relation of the late defence minister, joined other top officials in expressing their condolences to the family.

The funeral is scheduled for Thursday in Bulatovic's native village in northern Montenegro.

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