SERBIA: Serbia agreed yesterday to let Slobodan Milosevic's wife return from exile to bury him in Belgrade, as long as she surrenders to face criminal charges afterwards.
But Marko Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president's son, refused to confirm plans for a funeral in Serbia as he collected his father's body from The Hague and accompanied it to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam where it remained last night.
Lawyers for the widowed Mira Markovic posted €15,000 bail as a guarantee that she would appear in court on March 23rd, to answer accusations that she abused her power as Serbia's first lady by giving a luxury, state-owned flat to her grandson's nanny.
The court said she would have to hand over her passport on arrival in Belgrade, and would be arrested if she failed to turn up at the appointed hearing.
"The district court's decision to let Mirjana Markovic come to the country for the funeral of her husband Slobodan Milosevic allows the family to hold it in Serbia," said the prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica.
"Funerals are civilised acts that must be respected. That is in the spirit of our tradition and I am sure that everybody, on such an occasion, will have such an approach."
But it was still unclear last night whether Mr Milosevic's relatives would agree to those terms. Ms Markovic may also face long-standing questions over the murder of former Serb president Ivan Stambolic, while daughter Marija is believed to be wanted by police for firing shots during her father's arrest in October 2000.
Marko Milosevic, who was controversially cleared in Serbia last year of threatening his father's critics, said the legal danger to his mother may prompt the family to choose a burial in Moscow, where they have both lived since fleeing Belgrade police.
"He should be buried in the place where he belongs, in the capital of our country, there is no discussion about that," Marko Milosevic said on arrival at The Hague, where his father died of heart failure while facing 66 counts of war crimes at the UN tribunal. Serbian president Boris Tadic has ruled out a state funeral or a place in the revered Avenue of Heroes cemetery for Mr Milosevic.
Mr Milosevic's Socialist allies have threatened to bring down the beleaguered government unless he is given a "dignified" burial in the Serb capital, while the influential Radical party vowed to do the same over the legal threat to Ms Markovic.
The Radicals backed most of Mr Milosevic's policies, and now hold 82 of the 250 seats in Serbia's parliament, making it the biggest single party. With the support of the 22 Socialist deputies, it could force a no-confidence vote in the government.
Tomislav Nikolic, who leads the Radicals while its ultranationalist chief Vojislav Seselj stands trial at The Hague, said it would organise a 100,000-strong welcoming party for Mr Milosevic's family at Belgrade airport.
"I told Marko he and his mother can come and go and no one would dare to touch them," Mr Nikolic said.