Serbian strongman's death threatens to spark political crisi

[Kathy]

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place... geez

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ional/home

The funeral places Serbia's government, considered moderate and pro-European though it is supported by some radical nationalist parties, in an extremely awkward position.

To allow a state funeral, which appears necessary under Serbian laws, they will have to allow entry to Mr. Milosevic's wife and adult children, who are reportedly living in hiding in Russia. His wife, Mirjana Markovic, faces charges for ordering the assassination of a rival.

To grant the family immunity and to allow them to preside over a huge funeral at a moment when even moderate Serbs are feeling sympathy for Mr. Milosevic could reignite the ultranationalist cause.

But to refuse them admission or to reduce the scope of the funeral could cause the family to hold it in Russia instead, a prospect that would further embitter the Serbian people, possibly driving them even more dramatically into the hands of the radicals.

Serbian officials wrestled with these choices yesterday and said they were not even close to reaching a conclusion. Their government is already extremely fragile. It is in the midst of international talks over the status of Kosovo, the country's embattled southern province, that will likely lead to its independence, further embittering Serbs.

[Lando]

I was watching this on the news. It seems like his family won't attend the big funeral in Serbia and the family will probably have a seperate funeral where they're safe in Russia afterwards... I guess we'll see though.

[Kathy]

The media coverage has been strange here... there's a lot of talk of the UN countries manipulating information and spreading untruths about him, etc.

I like this line in the article: "Because he has died, he is now innocent of any charges". There was a big argument in the news about this quote.

[Lando]

The thing is, I don't really remember this guy being all that strong. I could probably beat him in an arm wrestle.

[Kathy]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... 14/BNStory

"Mr. Milosevic's son, Marko, flew to the Netherlands on Tuesday to collect his fathers remains. He contended that his father had been murdered: “He got killed. He didn't die. He got killed. There's a murder.”

The tribunal official, who has access to confidential documents on Mr. Milosevic's medication use, said two doctors concluded that the former Serb leader was intentionally taking drugs that undermined the prescribed medication for his heart ailment.

Mr. Milosevic, who was defending himself against 66 counts of war crimes, was allowed to work in a private office where he could meet privately with witnesses and legal advisers, making it impossible to monitor material that they may have smuggled in to him, the official said."

I wouldn't have expected that this would be allowed in a UN detention center.

[happening fish]

apparently 50,000 people showed up to his funeral. so much for being considered a monster!

[Kathy]

yeah no kidding. There are a lot of people who consider him a hero

[Lando]

and strong too apparently.