Yugoslav Airlines Boss Killed

The head of Yugoslav airlines was shot dead in central Belgrade late Tuesday by unidentified assailants, Belgrade's Studio B television reported.

An eyewitness said two men had opened fire on Zika Petrovic as he stepped out of the building and had run away immediately.

"This evening at around 9:30 p.m. in Jase Prodanovica street Yugoslav airlines general director Zivorad Zika Petrovic was killed," Studio B said, quoting the eyewitness.

Petrovic, 61, is the General Manager of Yugoslav Airlines, known as Jugoslovenski aerotransport or JAT in Yugolslavia. He is a 32-year veteran of the company, is married and has two children. The JAT profile lists soccer and basketball as Petrovic’s pastimes.

Petrovic is also a friend of the family of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and a member of the neo-communist party of Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic.

The independent news agency Beta said the house Petrovic had been coming out of was his parents' home.

A Reuters photographer at the scene said the street had been sealed off by police and the body was still lying on the pavement.

There was no immediate comment from police.

Several prominent Yugoslavian public servants have been assassinated in recent months.