Slobodan Milosevic today phoned his family from The Hague prison, denying the war crimes charges and saying he was ‘‘fine and healthy’’, the former president’s lawyer said.

Slobodan Milosevic’s lawyers were promising to go to a high court today to challenge a government decree paving the way for Yugoslavia’s former president to be extradited to the United Nations war crimes tribunal.

Belgrade’s District Court today extended former President Slobodan Milosevic’s stay in jail for two more months.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was undergoing tests under police guard today after he was rushed from his cell at Belgrade’s Central Prison with chest pains.

As Slobodan Milosevic awoke today after his first night in jail it emerged that a vast cache of weapons was seized from the mansion he had transformed into a fortress.