Former Yugoslav president Mr Slobodan Milosevic, is on a plane bound for Holland this evening his way to face charges of crimes against humanity.
Serbia's reformist authorities handed Mr Milosevic over to the United Nations war crimes tribunal despite legal attempts by allies of the ex-Yugoslav president to block the move.
The hand-over clears the way for Yugoslavia to receive around $1.3 billion in funds to restore an economy devastated by NATO bombing and sanctions imposed to punish Mr Milosevic's policies.
But his hasty departure caused a political storm domestically, pushing the Yugoslav governing coalition to the brink of collapse.
Western leaders expressed delight that Mr Milosevic was on his way to the international war crimes court in the Hague.
US President Mr George W Bush applauded the move as an important step. "The transfer of Milosevic to The Hague is an unequivocal message to those persons who brought such tragedy and brutality to the Balkans that they will be held accountable for their crimes," the US President said.
"Milosevic, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, will finally be accountable for his acts," said French President Mr Jacques Chirac in a statement.
"I am extraordinarily delighted," said German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder. British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair described it as "good news."
Local media said Milosevic had been taken from his cell in the city's Central Prison and flown by helicopter to a U.S.-run airbase in Tuzla, Bosnia. A NATO plane taking him to Holland left at around 7p.m. Irish time.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Mr Zarko Korac told Reutersthat Milosevic (59) had been placed in the custody of a representative of the Hague Tribunal in Belgrade before leaving.
The tribunal indicted Mr Milosevic in May 1999, accusing him of responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo province. He will be the first head of state to be tried for alleged war crimes committed while he was in office.
"It is the first time that [such] a person... stands before a judicial organ created by the international community... We will do all we can to ensure a fair and rapid trial," the Tribunal's president, Claude Jorda, told reporters in The Hague.
Prosecutors also plan to charge him with war crimes committed in Bosnia and Croatia, where the breakaway of the two former Yugoslav republics from Belgrade's control sparked four years of war that left over 200,000 dead.
One official involved in The Hague tribunal was jubilant. "We're over the moon. This is the crowning moment for us."
Earlier today, Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court, ordered a freeze on all moves to transfer Mr Milosevic to The Hague.
It also specifically ordered all Yugoslav and Serbian state bodies to take no action on handing over Mr Milosevic until it had decided if the decree passed at the weekend on co-operation with the Hague was constitutional.
But their decision did not officially take effect until Friday and the Serbian government, in emergency session, decided to act swiftly and extradite Mr Milosevic in case procedures got bogged down.
While the extradition has been warmly welcomed abroad the swift action rocked government structures in Yugoslavia, which is made up of dominant Serbia and smaller Montenegro.
While reformers have tight control in Serbia they rely on a coalition with Montenegro Socialists, many of them previously linked to Milosevic, for a majority in the federal Yugoslav parliament.
Montenegrin Socialist Party (SNP) leader Mr Predrag Bulatovic said the move spelled the end of the ruling coalition.
"We will remain firm in our stand. This is the end of the coalition," SNPhead Mr Bulatovic told Reutersin the Montenegro's main city Podgorica.
"After this there are no more talks with DOS," he said, referring to Serbia's reformist DOS coalition.
A collapse in the federal government would cause turmoil that would impede dearly needed economic reforms and might eventually lead to the break-up of the federation.
Diplomats said the DOS reform alliance could also fall apart and early elections were a possibility.
President Kostunica learned of the transfer through the media, sources at his office said. He had not commented at the time of writing.
Yugoslavia has been under intense international pressure to hand over Milosevic, who was ousted in a mass uprising last October, with vital economic aid to rebuild its shattered economy being held back until he is given up for trial.
But ordinary Serbs resent being dictated to by the West.