BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro – Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic (search) survived an apparent assassination attempt when a car repeatedly tried to crash into his motorcade, his press office said Wednesday.
The incident occurred late Tuesday in downtown Belgrade when a black Audi "tried several times to crash" into Tadic's car but was cut off by another vehicle from Tadic's security, the office said.
Tadic was unhurt in the incident, and the Audi fled the scene in Belgrade's plush Dedinje district after the security car rammed into it, the office added.
The office said Tadic's security team noticed that the car was following the motorcade for a while before the incident.
No other details or possible motives were given.
Pro-Western Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic (search) was assassinated in March 2003 in front of his downtown Belgrade office in a sniper attack.
Several paramilitary and gang figures associated with former President Slobodan Milosevic (search) are standing trial in the case. They are accused of killing Djindjic in order to bring Milosevic's allies back to power in Serbia.
Tadic, who elected Serbian president in June this year, took over the leadership of the pro-Western Democratic Party from Djindjic following his assassination.
Tadic, considered the most popular Serbian politician, is hated by nationalists who oppose his pro-Western policies and calls for over a dozen Serb war crimes suspects to be extradited to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Tadic's Democratic Party led the rebellion that toppled Milosevic, the former president of Yugoslavia, Serbia-Montenegro's predecessor, in October 2000, and extradited him for trial to The Hague a year later
Only a few weeks before Djindjic was killed, he survived a similar assassination attempt when a truck tried to crash into his motorcade on Belgrade's main highway.
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