Zastava Arms of Serbia and Remington signed the agreement in Kragujevac, 120 kilometers (72 miles) west of Belgrade, for the supply of the weapons in 2006, the private Beta news agency reported.

The arms would be sold under the joint brand name "Remington-Zastava" in a contract for 24,000 carbines and small-calibre sporting rifles and arms, with the first shipment to be made in January.

The NATO military alliance, including the United States, bombed the Zastava factory several times during a campaign aimed at ending a 1998-1999 crackdown by then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's forces against Albanian separatists.

The Zastava company is known also for its automobile production and recently signed a deal to build cars for giant Italian automaker Fiat.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.