BELGRADE, Serbia, March 15 (UPI) -- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will be buried in Serbia, according to family members.
Milosevic, also known as the "Butcher of the Balkans," died of a heart attack in his cell Saturday at the age of 64. He was being held on trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
His body was released by the war crimes tribunal at The Hague on Tuesday and is due to arrive Wednesday in Belgrade, days after his family accused the Serbian government of trying to prevent his burial there.
Milorad Vucelic, an old friend of Milosevic and now vice-president of his Socialist Party, told the BBC that a burial in Serbia would "be only natural for a man who had led the country for such a long period."
Negotiations have been ongoing between party officials and the Belgrade city authorities as to where Milosevic should be buried after the first site proposed was deemed inappropriate. They say a larger site is needed to accommodate mourners.
