Slobodan Milosevic has been laid to rest beneath a tree in the back garden of the family estate in his hometown – an anticlimactic end to one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the turbulent Balkans.

Thousands of mourners packed a square in front of Belgrade’s federal parliament building today to bid a final farewell to Slobodan Milosevic, who died while on UN trial for some of Europe’s worst atrocities since the Second World War.

Slobodan Milosevic was to be laid to rest today with a private funeral expected to draw tens of thousands of followers – their admiration unshaken by the fact he was on trial for some of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War II when he died.

A senior official in Serbia’s Socialist Party said today that none of Slobodan Milosevic’s Moscow-based family will attend his funeral tomorrow, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

THE coffin holding Slobodan Milosevic’s body went on display yesterday to die-hard supporters.

The coffin holding Slobodan Milosevic’s body will be displayed today at a museum that used to exhibit gifts received by the late Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito – yet another unusual twist in the tumultuous aftermath of his death.

The body of Slobodan Milosevic has been flown home to Serbia for burial, met on the tarmac by only a handful of party loyalists. The low-key arrival, after days of wrangling over his final resting place, was an unceremonious homecoming for a man once feared – and respected – by millions.

THE body of Slobodan Milosevic returned to his homeland yesterday as his supporters planned a funeral that raised fears nationalists could use the ceremony to try to regain power.

Slobodan Milosevic’s body returned to his homeland today, flown to Belgrade from the Netherlands where he died last weekend at a UN detention centre near the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Slobodan Milosevic’s body may be put on public display ahead of a funeral later this week, a top ally of the late Serb leader said today, and a family confidante said he could be buried in his hometown.

THE family and supporters of Slobodan Milosevic are pushing for a state funeral for the suspected war criminal.

The Dutch Embassy in Moscow today granted a three-day visa to Slobodan Milosevic’s son, Marko, so he can travel to the The Hague to claim his father’s remains, the Netherlands said.

The widow of Slobodan Milosevic told a Belgrade newspaper she preferred to bring back her late husband’s body to the couple’s hometown of Pozarevac for burial, but that authorities in Belgrade would have to waive a standing arrest warrant for her first.

Slobodan Milosevic’s Socialist party threatened to topple Serbia’s minority government if the former Yugoslav president was not buried with state honors in Belgrade and if his widow was not allowed to attend the funeral.

Slobodan Milosevic’s family clashed today over where the former Yugoslav president should be buried, with proposals ranging from Serbia or Montenegro to Russia.

Former President Slobodan Milosevic’s son, who has fled to Russia, was sentenced in absentia today to six months in prison for threatening to kill one of his father’s political opponents with a power saw.

POLICE have found the grave of a missing former Serbian president they believe was killed by an elite police unit also suspected in the slaying of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, authorities said yesterday.

Slobodan Milosevic's wife may be forced to go to a town where her incarcerated husband's name evokes ridicule and hers hatred.

The son of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic could face prosecution over the alleged beating of a student activist last year.