In reaction to reports of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's death in The Hague, the European Union (EU) said the passing away of any human being is a sad moment.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters that she had been informed.

Plassnik said the passing away of any human being is a sad moment and that the death of Milosevic does not change the need for the region to come to terms with the legacy of the past.

In The Hague, the UN war crimes tribunal confirmed Saturday that Milosevic died in the United Nations detention center in the suburbs of The Hague

"Today, Saturday March 11, 2006, Slobodan Milosevic was found lifeless on his bed in his cell at the United Nations Detention Unit in Scheveningen," the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 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," it said.

"The Dutch Police and a Dutch coroner were called in and started an enquiry. A full autopsy and a toxicological examination have been ordered," it said.

The tribunal's president, Judge Fausto Pocar, has ordered a full inquiry, the court said, adding that Milosevic's family has been informed.

The UN war crimes tribunal last month refused Milosevic's request for a temporary release to undergo medial treatment in Moscow.

Milosevic, 64, suffered from high blood pressure and heart problems. In a trial that dragged on for four years, Milosevic faced more than 60 charges of war crimes including genocide for his role in the Balkan wars that tore the Yugoslav federation apart in the 1990s.

An internal court memo published this week suggests that Milosevic had around 40 hours of court time left to finish presenting his defense case.

Source: Xinhua