Belgrade funeral for Milosevic

BELGRADE – Slobodan Milosevic will be buried in the Serbian capital Belgrade later this week in a funeral befitting a former head of state, aides announced, saying his body was being flown home yesterday.

No date has been set but his whole family is expected to attend, his legal team and a senior official in his party said in announcements late Tuesday in Belgrade and The Hague, where he died while on trial for war crimes. Tuesday was a day of mixed messages as the former Yugoslav leader’s family fought with authorities over the funeral arrangements and the terms of their own return from self-imposed exile.Milorad Vucelic, a senior official in Milosevic’s Socialist Party who has been tasked by the family with the arrangements, said the body would be flown to Belgrade on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam.”The date of the funeral will be decided later,” Vucelic told Serbia’s RTS television.”I think the whole family will be present, as conditions are met for this,” he added, apparently referring to a court ruling in Belgrade earlier on Tuesday revoking an arrest warrant for Milosevic’s widow, Mira Markovic.From The Hague, a member of Milosevic’s legal team, Branko Rakic, said the funeral would be held “certainly this week.”Rakic said it would be “an important funeral of a former head of state.He will have a grave that a former president should have.”Milosevic, 64, died Saturday in his cell while on trial at the UN court in The Hague for genocide, other war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s.An autopsy concluded he died of a heart attack.There had been huge uncertainty about where he would be buried.His widow, Mira Markovic, is widely understood to have been living since 2003 in Russia, where their son Marko fled six years ago after his father was ousted.Marko Milosevic accused Serbian authorities of trying to block a funeral in Belgrade and several times said Moscow appeared the only option.- Nampa-AFPTuesday was a day of mixed messages as the former Yugoslav leader’s family fought with authorities over the funeral arrangements and the terms of their own return from self-imposed exile.Milorad Vucelic, a senior official in Milosevic’s Socialist Party who has been tasked by the family with the arrangements, said the body would be flown to Belgrade on a scheduled flight from Amsterdam.”The date of the funeral will be decided later,” Vucelic told Serbia’s RTS television.”I think the whole family will be present, as conditions are met for this,” he added, apparently referring to a court ruling in Belgrade earlier on Tuesday revoking an arrest warrant for Milosevic’s widow, Mira Markovic.From The Hague, a member of Milosevic’s legal team, Branko Rakic, said the funeral would be held “certainly this week.”Rakic said it would be “an important funeral of a former head of state.He will have a grave that a former president should have.”Milosevic, 64, died Saturday in his cell while on trial at the UN court in The Hague for genocide, other war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s.An autopsy concluded he died of a heart attack.There had been huge uncertainty about where he would be buried.His widow, Mira Markovic, is widely understood to have been living since 2003 in Russia, where their son Marko fled six years ago after his father was ousted.Marko Milosevic accused Serbian authorities of trying to block a funeral in Belgrade and several times said Moscow appeared the only option.- Nampa-AFP