Milosevic's body is returned to Belgrade
Arrival is greeted with little fanfare
BELGRADE -- The body of Slobodan Milosevic, the Balkans war crimes defendant who led Serbia into a decade of vicious war, arrived in Belgrade yesterday with minimal fanfare, but supporters moved to arrange a last hurrah.
When the plane carrying his body from the Netherlands touched down at the city's airport, no government representative stood on the tarmac to meet it. There was no red carpet, no band playing somber music. The coffin, wrapped in plastic, slid down a conveyor belt from the belly of the jet and sat untouched for a few minutes under a light snow while airport workers inspected customs documents.
A clutch of associates from Milosevic's powerful past finally approached. They placed a Serbian flag and roses over the casket of the man who once was a popularly elected president known for whipping up nationalist passions. Then they quietly carried it to a commercial hearse.
The trip into the city provided signs that Milosevic still inspires some measure of adulation. Several hundred mourners lined part of the road and tossed carnations at the hearse. When the vehicle reached the St. Sava Hospital morgue, supporters waved red party flags and clutched photos of the former leader.
His coffin will be placed inside Belgrade's Museum of the Revolution today for two days of public viewing, officials from his Socialist Party of Serbia said. He will be buried Saturday in his residential compound in Pozarevac.
