Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, was assassinated on Wednesday.

Djindjic was shot in front of the Serbian parliamentary building in Belgrade at around 1300 (1200 gmt). He was immediately taken to hospital where he underwent an operation but died from his wounds.

Djindjic, a former mayor of the Serbian capital, was a prominent opposition leader under the rule of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

BBC cited Serbian radio reports as saying that the prime minister's wife had been seen at the city's Military Medical Academy, looking "deeply shaken".

On 21 February Djindjic survived what then he said was an assassination bid. A lorry swung into the path of his motorcade as he was travelling to Belgrade airport.

Zoran Djindjic has been hit twice by bullets - in the stomach and in the back, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Reuters news agency cited police sources as saying that Djindjic had been hit by large-calibre sniper rifle bullets.

According to one of the versions the gunman with the large-calibre sniper rifle was in a building in proximity to the government, which has been hit by NATO bombardments in 1999 during the Kosovo crisis.

Witnesses claim that they saw two armed men going out of the building some fifty meters off the assassination scene, Bulgarian Darik Radio reported, citing Djordjo Vlaich, journalist of BBC - Belgrade. In his opinion this is the place from where the two fatal shots have been fired.

The car of the Serbian prime minister is usually parked some 20 meters off the entrance of the Cabinet's building and he walks the distance on foot. The Serbian journalist said that Zoran Djindjic had not hinted at threats being made against him.

Another version claims that the gunmen were positioned in a neighbouring street, some 200 meters off the Cabinet's building.

Initial unconfirmed reports claimed that the assassinators were three.

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