Belgrade  - More than a 1,000 visitors flocked to the opening of an exhibition in Belgrade dedicated to former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito at the weekend in a sign that fascination with the former communist is still alive nearly 30 years after his death.

The Belgrade Museum of the History of Yugoslavia unveiled the show, called the "Tito Effect" on Saturday, and attracted more than 1,000 visitors in the first two days.

Belgrade  - Serbia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were due on Monday to open negotiations on a new, 2-billion-dollar standby credit, which the Balkan country needs for macroeconomic stability.

The IMF already approved 530 million dollars in drawing rights for Serbia in a 15-month deal in January. But Belgrade says it needs more in order to cope with the adverse effects of the financial crisis.

Belgrade  - Serbian officials launched an investigation against five former policemen suspected of war crimes during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

The office of the war crimes prosecutor requested "an investigation against five former members of the special police unit suspected of committing war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war," a statement said.

The prosecution ordered their detention, the statement said, adding that "this is not an action against policemen who defended their country in 1999".

Belgrade  - A Serbian war crimes court on Thursday sentenced 13 former reservists in the ex Yugoslav army to between five and 20 years in prison for their involvement in war crimes committed in Croatia in 1991. Five other defendents were acquitted.

Former commander of Vukovar's Territorial defense Miroljub Vujovic and six other reservists were sentenced to maximum 20 years in prison for their involvement in killing of some 200 Croatian civilians at the Ovcara farm near Vukovar, eastern Croatia in November 1991.

Belgrade  - Although the killers of Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic have been convicted, the political motivation behind the assassination six years ago remains murky, the Belgrade daily Press said Thursday.

A pro-western reformist, Djindjic was killed on March 12, 2003 by a sniper in a conspiracy of rogue policemen and organized crime.

Madrid  - Spain remains opposed to the independence of Kosovo by "political conviction" and in line with international law, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday.

Zapatero spoke at a joint press conference with Serbian President Boris Tadic, who was on his first state visit to Spain.

Spain is one of the few countries not to have recognized the independence Kosovo declared in 2008, allegedly for fear that it could encourage separatist tendencies in Spanish regions.