Family divided over plan for burial in Russia

Russia reaction : Slobodan Milosevic's reputation for controversy has continued beyond the grave, with his family reportedly…

Russia reaction: Slobodan Milosevic's reputation for controversy has continued beyond the grave, with his family reportedly split over burial plans.

Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic, and son, Marko, both wanted by Belgrade prosecutors, have reportedly called for the former Yugoslav president to be buried in Moscow, where they now live.

But his daughter Marija, the only member of the family not facing criminal charges, has called for the body to be taken to the family ancestral home of Lijeva Reka, a picture-postcard village in the mountains of Montenegro.

Serbia-Montenegro would be happy to have the body - and the problem - shifted to Russia. For the rulers in Belgrade, the death of Milosevic is a chance to distance themselves from his rule, whereas a funeral would risk creating a martyr's shrine. Belgrade has already ruled out holding a state funeral.

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Mira Markovic will have the final say on her husband's burial, and as Milosevic is an innocent man - he died before judgment was delivered - The Hague bosses will respect her wishes.

She lives in Moscow with Milosevic's brother, Borislav, the former Yugoslav ambassador to Russia, who has become a wealthy businessman. A likely scenario is for her to declare that her husband will rest in Moscow until the day when a new Serbia-Montenegro, run by nationalists, is willing to give him a suitable burial.

Russia is likely to allow such a funeral as there is anger here that an offer to give Milosevic treatment in a Moscow hospital for heart problems was rebuffed by The Hague judges a fortnight ago.

Surgeons at Moscow's Bakoulev institute have also offered to carry out an independent autopsy. Allegations by Milosevic's lawyers that he was poisoned have been widely reported in Russia, where the war crimes court is seen as biased against Serbs.

The Hague tribunal is identified as part and parcel of NATO, which Russian's remember for going to war with Milosevic's Yugoslavia in 1999 despite Moscow's attempt to block the move at the UN. Russia is close to Serbia, wishing to keep an ally in eastern Europe.