Milosevic lawyers fly in to plan defence

Slobodan Milosevic's lawyers have flown to The Hague to meet the fallen leader and prepare for his appearance before the war crimes tribunal.

Zdenko Tomanovic said he and colleague Dragan Krgovic asked the court to be allowed to talk to Milosevic by 1500 GMT.

Milosevic was handed over to the tribunal last week to face war crimes charges for atrocities committed by Serb troops in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war in the Serb province.

"Today we will discuss the defence and the composition of the team of lawyers," Mr Tomanovic said.

The former Yugoslav president's extradition has triggered a government crisis in Yugoslavia, whose main political leaders are split over the move.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and politicians from the smaller republic of Montenegro opposed the extradition, carried out by the government of Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic.

Mr Kostunica and other Serb pro-democracy leaders are expected to hold more talks about the composition of a reshuffled Yugoslav Cabinet after the resignation last week of the Yugoslav prime minister, Zoran Zizic, a Montenegrin.

Milosevic is scheduled to appear before the war crimes court for the first time on Tuesday. His lawyers said he will say he is being part of a show trial because he refused to bow to Nato demands during the 1999 war with the military alliance.