Milosevic's wife faces rough homecoming

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

The shabby factory town of Pozarevac where Mira Markovic and her husband still own a house might be her best option as her other homes are off limits.

Although some former neighbours and employees say can find kind words for the former president, they appear united in loathing for his wife.

The upscale villa in the capital, Belgrade, that the couple most recently called home will soon be off limits because it belongs to the government.

Their own house near the government residence is undergoing a major makeover.

The Milosevics' former cleaning lady describes him as showing flashes of joviality but her as "cold-hearted and arrogant."

An ex-Milosevic bodyguard has told how she'd dismiss her husband's concerns for the well-being of his security detail with the words: "They're paid to stand out in the cold and rain."

Before Milosevic was swept from power in October, the run-down factory town used to be known as the Forbidden City after the secluded Beijing enclave where China's emperors once lived. The couple's son, Marko, allegedly used to terrorise residents and bankroll million-dollar criminal projects.

Some residents of this city of 90,000 people, 60 miles east of Belgrade, say they used to have to take off their car license plates when they journeyed elsewhere to prevent Milosevic opponents from slashing their tyres. License plates in Yugoslavia include initials of the town of registration.