BELGRADE, Serbia, March 14 (UPI) -- Marko Milosevic said Tuesday his father Slobodan Milosevic may temporarily be buried in Moscow as Belgrade wants to prevent the funeral.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow before flying to Amsterdam en route to The Hague to collect his father's body, Marko said he had asked Russian authorities to let his father be buried in the Russian capital.
Serbian authorities and Belgrade officials appear to want to avoid the burial in the former Yugolav capital, private Belgrade B92 radio reported.
"They threaten in official and unofficial ways. We do not have any other choice," but for a Mosocow burial, Marko was quoted as saying. "I understand that Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has agreed and we may ask permission from the Russian authorities," Marko added.
In the meantime, in Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said the District court decision to accept a 15,000-euro bail to let Mira Markovic, widow of Milosevic, attend the burial showed that in Serbia, "The funeral was a civilized act which is being respected."
After Milosevic's fall in October 2000, Marko fled Serbia and his mother, Mira, followed suit early in 2003. Marko and Mira are believed to have settled in Moscow. Mira Markovic had been indicted on corruption charges before she left the country. Her arrest warrant would be suspended if she came to Serbia for the funeral although she could be required to make a court appearance as well.
