Mr Slobodan Milosevic's wife, Ms Mira Markovic, flew out of Belgrade today to visit the former Yugoslav president in the Dutch jail where he is awaiting trial on war crimes charges.
Ms Markovic, a prominent politician and widely regarded as a key influence on her husband, left on a Yugoslav Airlines flight for Amsterdam this morning. From there, she was expected to travel to the jail in The Hague.
She made no comment before entering the departures lounge at Belgrade airport. She is expected to stay in The Netherlands until Saturday.
Ms Markovic was accompanied by daughter-in-law Milica and by a lawyer, Mr Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who said he had been retained as part of a legal team to help defend Mr Milosevic in The Hague.
"She needs peace," the lawyer said of Ms Markovic. "She will visit Milosevic every single day for three days."
It was not clear if Mr Ognjanovic's appointment meant Mr Milosevic had gone back on his decision not to appoint defence counsel or if the lawyers would only act as advisers to the ex-president.
Mr Milosevic was handed over to the custody of the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague on June 28th.
Prosecutors have charged him with crimes against humanity, accusing him of responsibility for the mass killings and expulsions of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Mr Milosevic has refused to recognise the authority of the tribunal, which has entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.