Milosevic, Ultranationalist Ready To Team Up Again Opposition Says Realliance Shows President Ready To Provoke Bloodshed

President Slobodan Milosevic appeared ready Saturday to adjust his coalition to include an ultranationalist whose troops were among the most brutal of the Bosnian and Croatian wars.

Renewing the alliance with Vojislav Seselj breaches the spirit of the Dayton peace agreement for Bosnia, according to opposition leader Vuk Draskovic, who urged the United States and other nations to ensure Milosevic lives up to his obligations.

“Now, it’s very clear - the Dayton agreement is in grave danger. Milosevic is ready to provoke bloodshed in Serbia,” Draskovic told The Associated Press on Saturday.

It also is clear Milosevic has decided to reject international calls to recognize opposition victories in Nov. 17 municipal elections, Draskovic said.

Milosevic has conceded some towns, but that hasn’t ended the daily rallies held in Serbia since the elections.

At least one protester and one policeman were hurt during Saturday’s demonstration in Belgrade, Independent Radio Index reported. The policeman was seen with blood running down his face, apparently from bottles thrown by protesters, the radio said.

Sixteen people sustained head injuries and broken bones when police clubbed protesters Friday night, independent media and witnesses said Saturday. The injury total likely was higher because protesters are reluctant to go to the hospital and reveal they are taking part in demonstrations.

Milosevic’s ruling Socialists - the renamed Communists - said in a statement Friday that new “capable and creative people” would be brought into the government.

The statement smacked of the rigid communism of Milosevic’s powerful wife, Mirjana Markovic, but also stressed patriotism and nationalism in a way that indicated ties would be reforged with Seselj.

The independent daily Nasa Borba said Seselj and Milosevic met last week and Dnevni Telegraf said the ultranationalist had asked to become police minister in a reshuffled government.

As the old Yugoslav federation collapsed, Seselj’s paramilitary units fought on the Serb side in both Croatia and Bosnia, and were accused of some of the most vicious attacks.

The Milosevic and Seselj alliance ran from 1991-94, until Milosevic began to turn peacemaker in Bosnia. Seselj accused him of abandoning the Serbian cause.

Milosevic met Thursday with his party’s Executive Committee, Nasa Borba reported, suggesting he may be reverting to nationalism to fend off the challenge to his power.

The demonstrations are “an attack against our country from the same forces that dissembled the old Yugoslavia,” Milosevic reportedly said. In the early 1990s, he often accused the West of destroying the old Yugoslav federation.

Milosevic needs a new alliance because a small coalition partner, the New Democracy party, has supported the demonstrations.

In more signs of a worsening situation, authorities closed a local TV station in Bajina Basta, a small town in western Serbia won by the opposition in November.

And a TV station in central Serbia that recently broke free from Socialist censors was looted early Saturday of cameras and telephones.