BELGRADE (AP) - A judge yesterday confirmed the arrest of four suspects in an army purchase scandal, which has triggered allegations of corruption among top officials in Serbia-Montenegro. District court judge Branislav Todic said the four — including a company owner and three military officials — would be questioned by another judge later yesterday.

ZAGREB (Reuters) - The Catholic Church is hiding Croatian war crimes fugitive Ante Gotovina, while Pope Benedict and the Vatican have ignored appeals to track him down, the UN’s chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte was quoted yesterday as saying. “I have information he is hiding in a Franciscan monastery and so the Catholic Church is protecting him,” she told London’s Daily Telegraph.

A Turkish citizen was sentenced yesterday to 12 years and nine months in prison for attempting to smuggle 116 kilograms of heroin into Serbia. Ahmet Kiroglu was caught on the border with Bulgaria in June with 224 packages of heroin hidden behind the back seat of his car. (AP)

A Bosnian Serb accused of belonging to a notorious paramilitary group that murdered scores of Bosnian Muslims pleaded not guilty yesterday to 12 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sredoje Lukic, 44, who was indicted in 1998, appeared before a judge after abandoning his refuge in Russia and surrendering to the Bosnian Serb authorities last week. (AP)

Romania’s tourist operators and hotel managers yesterday called on the government to reduce taxes and help provide better services, warning that that the number of tourists fell by 10 percent this year. “Beaches are not maintained, the water is dirty, there are stray dogs, walking sales merchants and bad service,” said Lucia Morariu, head of the National Agency for Tourism. Some 1.2 million Romanians vacationed at the Black Sea, 10 percent less than last year. (AP)