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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia confirms it is part of European security front

Belgrade, 18 August 2005

Serbian Minister of Interior Dragan Jocic said today that Serbia has confirmed that it represents a part of the European security front after it arrested the Moroccan Abdelmajid Bouchar, a suspect in last year’s terrorist attack in Madrid, Spain.

From left: Tomica Milosavljevic, Predrag Bubalo, Dragan Jocic and Radomir Naumov

At a press conference following the government’s session, Jocic explained that Bouchar was spotted on the Subotica-Belgrade train on June 23 as border police noticed that there was an unusually well-dressed person among a group of people who were crossing the border illegally. It was also unusual for someone travelling without identity papers to be heading for Belgrade, according to Jocic.

Bouchar was given a 20-day detention for not having identity papers, said Jocic and added that he was later put under court supervision while his identity was being established.

After informing all national Interpol offices on all the data the Serbian police had, a confirmation arrived from Madrid two days ago that the detainee is the only terrorist who survived last year’s events in the Spanish capital, Jocic explained.

He said that Spain has been looking for Bouchar on grounds of terrorist activities and that a judge at the Belgrade District Court has given him an unlimited extradition detention until documents are prepared for his quick handover to Spain.

This arrest is proof that Serbia represents a part of Europe’s security front and an indispensable link in the preservation of security, said Jocic and added that this has also confirmed that Serbian police are doing a good job in fighting organised crime.

Minister of Economy Predrag Bubalo said that the government decided that employees at public companies who are majority owned by the state should get 15 percent of the firm’s capital offered for privatisation.

Bubalo also said that the government accepted a proposal of a programme for the restructuring of holding company Masinska Industrija Nis (MIN).

Minister of Energy and Mining Radomir Naumov told reporters that the government has approved the launching of the procedure of hiring a privatisation adviser for state oil and gas company NIS and authorised the Privatisation Agency to conduct the granting of a contract to a chosen consultancy.

The aim of hiring an adviser for NIS is to define an optimal strategy and method for the privatisation process, Naumov explained.

According to him, an adviser is to be chosen within 90 days’ time and will be given four months to prepare a report.

Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic said that the government adopted a report on the ministry’s activities in drafting a programme that will help to employ several hundred young doctors, out of some 1,000 awaiting jobs.

The government also decided to adjust the prices of medicines, said Milosavljevic and added that given the fact that value added tax on medicines had been reduced from 18 percent to eight percent, the government decided to meet demands of the pharmaceutical firms and foreign producers to raise the prices of medicines by three percent.