Serbian president in death threat scare

Boris Tadic, the Serbian president, has received death threatsfrom nationalists for "betraying the Serb people" by seeking closerties with the EU, according to the Independent.

The paper says that president Tadic backed the signing of astabilisation and association agreement with the EU last week overthe objections of hardliners, who said it amounted to a recognitionof independence for Kosovo, since the EU supported secession forthe former Serbian province.

The paper also reports that the president's office declined tocomment on the death threats, and adds that the Serbian dailynewspaper Blic quoted one letter as saying that Tadic would get abullet to the head for betraying the country.

The IHT says that the country's economy minister Mladjan Dinkicsaid in a radio interview that the threats were "serious" and thatthey "should be dealt with by the prosecutor's office and thesecurity services."

Ahead of Sunday's election, opinion polls are predicting a closecontest, with Tadic's pro-European coalition slightly behind anationalist bloc led by the pro-Milosevic Serbian RadicalParty.

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