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Milosevic found dead in prison cell

Autopsy ordered; Serbian leader was facing 66 counts of war crime charges

AMSTERDAM (Netherlands): Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader indicted for war crimes for orchestrating the Balkan wars of the 1990s, was found dead in his prison cell near The Hague, the U.N. Tribunal said on Saturday.

Mr. Milosevic (64), was found dead on Saturday in his bed at a U.N. prison near The Hague, the tribunal said in a statement. He appeared to have died of natural causes, a tribunal press officer said. A full autopsy and toxicological examination have been ordered, the tribunal said.

``The guard immediately alerted the detention unit officer in command and the medical officer. The latter confirmed that Slobodan Milosevic was dead,'' the statement said.

Mr. Milosevic had been on trial since February 2002, defending himself against 66 counts of crimes, including genocide, in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo — proceedings repeatedly interrupted by his poor health and chronic heart condition.

He recently asked the tribunal to be released temporarily to go to Moscow for treatment at a heart clinic. The tribunal rejected the request, fearing he would not return to complete his trial.

Frequent complaints

Mr. Milosevic was examined by doctors following his frequent complaints of fatigue or ill health, but the tribunal could not immediately say when he last underwent a medical check-up. All detenus at the U.N. centre in Scheveningen are checked by a guard every half hour.

Steven Kay, a British attorney who had been assigned to represent Mr. Milosevic, said on Saturday that the former Serb leader would not have fled, and was not suicidal. ``He said to me: `I haven't taken on all this work just to walk away from it and not come back. I want to see this case through,''' Mr. Kay told the BBC.

Blow to tribunal

Mr. Milosevic's trial was recessed last week to await his next defence witness. He also was waiting for a court decision on his request to subpoena former U.S. President Bill Clinton as a witness.

His death comes less than a week after the star witness in his trial, former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, was found dead in the same prison.

His testimony in 2002 described a political and military command structure headed by Mr. Milosevic in Belgrade that operated behind the scenes.

Babic, who was serving a 13-year prison sentence, committed suicide.

Mr. Milosevic's death will be a crushing blow to the tribunal and to those who were looking to establish an authoritative historical record of the Balkan wars.

Though the witness testimony is on public record, history will be denied the judgment of a panel of legal experts weighing the evidence of his personal guilt and the story of his regime.

``It is a pity he didn't live to the end of the trial to get the sentence he deserved,'' Croatian President Stipe Mesic said.

``Unfortunately, he did not face justice for crimes he has committed in Kosovo as well,'' Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Lufi Haziri said in Pristina.

The E.U. said Mr. Milosevic's death does not absolve Serbia of responsibility to hand over other war crimes suspects. — AP

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