cell near the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague, where he was on trial for alleged war crimes. He was 64.
"Milosevic was found lifeless in his bed in his cell," the Tribunal said in a statement. "The guard immediately alerted the detention unit officer in command and the medical officer. The latter confirmed that Slobodan Milosevic was dead."
His lawyer, Stephen Kay, told reporters that it was unlikely Milosevic had committed suicide. "I can’t categorically rule anything out, there has been an investigation. But I can tell you that a few weeks ago he said to me that he had no intention of ever taking his own life," Kay explained.
"He worked so hard on his defense, that he was determined to see it trough," the lawyer said. "He suffered however of an extremely high blood pressure and heart troubles," he stressed. The fact that he wanted to fight the trial alone, without a clear presence of defense lawers, also added to his health problems, Kay suggested.
A Communist banker who analysts say aroused a downtrodden and bitter Serbian spirit, Milosevic orchestrated a crusade throughout the 1990s that left about a quarter of a million people dead and displaced millions.
"BUTCHER OF BALKANS"
The rule of the man known as the "Butcher of the Balkans" ended in 2001 when special police forces stormed his heavily bunkered presidential villa, backed by an armored vehicle, and led him to a Belgrade jail and, eventually, The Hague Tribunal later that year, a BosNewsLife reporter recalled.
While Bosnian Muslims and Croats were among the main victims, there has been growing concern over revenge attacks against Serbian Orthodox Christians in Kosovo, the troubled Serbian province. Churches, monasteries and even Orthodox cemeteries as well as individual Christians and their leaders have been attacked throughout Kosovo.
An estimated 100,000 Serbs remain in the province, one-third of their prewar population. They have little freedom of movement and face occasional attacks and harassment by ethnic Albanian militants.
Ethnic Albanian militants fighting for independence have linked the predominantly Orthodox Serbs to the previous Milosevic-backed forces, charges strongly denied by Serbian priests. In a first reaction, officials of the Serbian Orthodox Church urged believers to "pray for his soul – everyone in the church can pray."
The Orthodox Church initially supported Milosevic, but later increasingly backed the opposition calling for democratic changes.
ZORAN DJINDJIC
Milosevic was found dead, a day before the third anniversary of the death of Prime Minister Zoran
Djindjic, who led Serbia’s first post-Milosevic government, before he was gunned down by paramilitaries loyal to Milosevic on March 12, 2003.
Milosevic’s brother, Borislav, reportedly said the UN tribunal was "entirely responsible" for his death.
Apparently fearing that Milosevic would not return to the court if he sought treatment abroad, the tribunal last month denied the former leader permission to visit doctors in Russia.
VICTIMS’ JUSTICE?
Meanwhile European officials in the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, that fought fears battles against Serb forces under Milosevic’s control, and Kosovo said his death as an ousted leader in a prison cell, brought some justice to the victims.
Not everyone agreed. Although Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in a popular revolt in 2000, there were some scenes of grief in his homeland Serbia. Milosevic supporters spoke of a "great loss" for the Balkans while state run television began airing only classical music between the news.
Serbian President Boris Tadic was quick to express condolences to Milosevic’s family and his Socialist Party.
Justice Minister Zoran Stojkovic said he was "shaken as a person" and claimed the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague did not provide proper medical to the former leader.
NO SYMPATHY
Yet they received no sympathy from Serbs who claimed to have suffered under Milosevic rule. One of them, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, recalled how forces linked to Milosevic had tried to kill him when he was in opposition.
"Slobodan Milosevic ordered many assassinations of my followers for years, assassinations of members of my family and people of my party. And Slobodan Milosevic organized a few assassination attempts against my own life, what can I say. That’s a pity that he did not face justice in Belgrade," Draskovic told reporters.
In Kosovo, Veton Surroi, an ethnic Albanian leader who had testified against Milosevic, said he only regretted that Milosevic did not live 100 years, so he would spend a longer time in prison.
But Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic said he hopes Milosevic’s death will encourage the people of the Balkans to burry their recent bloodstained past and look toward a future of reconciliation.
MOVING FORWARD
He acknowledged that those who suffered under Milosevic were frustrated that his death robbed them of a guilty verdict after a marathon, nearly 5-year, trial. However Ivanic stressed it was crucial for the Balkans to continue to cooperate with the UN court.
Ivanic urged in particular the Bosnian-Serb Republic and Serbia to speed up the arrest of key war crimes suspects, including Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military adviser Ratko Mladic, who have been linked to the 1995 massacre in the town of Srebrenica that killed up to 8-thousand Muslims.
"As the old fugitives are not in The Hague, the situation will not be normal. So one of the most important priorities of all the countries, especially Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro is to fully cooperate with [the UN Tribunal at] The Hague," the minister said. "We have two reasons for that: One to fulfill our obligations and another one which is even more important we have to do it because this is some sort of condition to build the trust among us."
Ivanic spoke by telephone from Austria, which is currently chairing the European Union and on Saturday, March 11, hosted a European Foreign Ministers meeting in Salzburg. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plasnik said Milosevic’s death should not become an obstacle to continue on the path of a more peaceful future for the Balkan region.
PAST LEGACY
Plasnik said, "The need to come to terms with the legacy of the past with the legacy of which Slobodan Milosevic has been a part…will be one of the big challenges ahead for the region in order to reach one of the ultimate goals which are lasting peace and reconciliation."
Milosevic has been blamed for inciting much of the hatred that led to Europe’s worst conflict since World War Two.
His defense team has reportedly demanded a funeral in Serbia for "an innocent man" who was never convicted, since being brought to The Hague, for a trial that cost an estimated $500-million. (With BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Serbia, and Netherlands).
