Milosevic flown home for burial

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.

Milosevic, who died last weekend at a UN detention centre in the Netherlands near the war crimes tribunal that was trying him on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, will be buried on Saturday in the grounds of the family estate in the industrial town of Pozarevac, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade, an official of Milosevic’s Socialist Party said.

The body arrived from Amsterdam yesterday afternoon aboard a commercial jetliner in a black coffin wrapped with plastic sheeting and packing tape.

Members of Milosevic’s Socialist Party stood at the airport in a light snowfall, holding a large wreath decorated with red roses, the party symbol. A red ribbon on the wreath read: “Slobo the Hero,” and party faithful draped a red, blue and white Serbian flag over the casket, some bending over to kiss it, others wiping away tears.

Serbia’s government has refused to hold a state funeral, leaving it to Milosevic’s family and his Socialist allies – determined to lay him to rest with as much private pomp as possible – to organise the return, funeral and burial.

Several people tossed flowers at the roof of a dark blue, dented minivan driving the coffin away as a few elderly women wailed loudly.

“You came home, my son, Slobo!” cried one, Milica Kojic, 74. “They killed him in that dungeon.”

Questions and accusations about Milosevic’s death have flown back and forth this week between The Hague, the family and the Russian government. The ex-leader’s son, Marko, says he was poisoned; the tribunal says an autopsy found a heart attack killed the prisoner, but toxicology results have not been announced; Russia says Milosevic was not properly treated.

After days of uncertainty, Marko Milosevic was finally granted a Dutch visa to go The Hague to take his father’s body away. But it was unclear whether he or his mother, Mirjana Markovic – who is wanted in Serbia on charges of abuse of power during her husband’s rule – would return from self-imposed exile in Russia to attend the funeral.

A Belgrade court on Tuesday suspended a warrant for her arrest – but ordered her passport to be seized upon arrival, which would prevent her from leaving the country immediately after the burial.

Belgrade authorities rejected requests that the body lie in the federal parliament for public viewing, so those who wish to pay their respects will have to view the coffin at the Revolution Museum, just blocks away from the presidential villa where Milosevic was arrested in 2001 in the plush Dedinje suburb.

Milosevic’s remains then will then be taken to Pozarevac for private burial beneath his favourite linden tree.

The Socialists, who were ousted from power along with Milosevic in 2000, are hoping to make political gains from their leader’s death. They had demanded a funeral with state honours at a cemetery reserved for prominent Serbs, but authorities rejected that demand.

Milosevic’s followers hold municipal power in Pozarevac, unlike in Belgrade, where the city authorities are dominated by the pro-Western Democratic Party, led by President Boris Tadic, and were determined to steer clear of anything that could be seen as legitimising Milosevic or his policies.

But the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party urged retired police and army officers to attend the funeral in ceremonial uniforms in a show of respect for the man who took them to four wars during his 13-year rule.

There are fears that nationalists could use the funeral to try win back power. In pressing for a Belgrade funeral, the Socialists threatened to topple the minority government if Milosevic were to be denied a funeral in Serbia and his wife was not allowed to mourn him at home.

Milorad Vucelic, the Socialists’ vice president, said he did not know if Milosevic’s wife and son would attend. But Sergei Baburin, a Russian nationalist lawmaker, said in Moscow that Markovic would not travel to Serbia because Serbian security guarantees were “insufficient".