The body of Slobodan Milosevic was flown to Serbia yesterday for burial in his hometown, almost five years after the former Yugoslav president was sent to The Hague to stand trial.

The remains of Milosevic, who died of a heart attack in jail just months before an expected verdict, arrived in Belgrade in the afternoon. But it was unclear whether his widow Mira Markovic, dubbed "Lady Macbeth" for her powerful influence on her husband, would attend because she would face a court hearing and confiscation of her passport if she returns to Serbia.

Milosevic will be buried on Saturday in his hometown of Pozarevac, 80 kilometres east of Belgrade, Uros Suvakovic, a senior official of his Socialist Party, said.

A Russian doctor sent from Moscow to check the results of the Dutch autopsy said yesterday he was satisfied Milosevic died of a heart attack but said he could have been saved if he had been allowed to travel to Moscow for specialist treatment.

Belgrade has refused a state funeral for Milosevic. His admirers say the funeral will be a major national event whatever its official status and despite Belgrade's rejection of a burial in the "Avenue of Heroes" in the city's main cemetery.

Local media reported Milosevic would be laid in state at the headquarters of his Socialist Party.

Milosevic's brother Borislav said he was sure Mira Markovic, who fled to Moscow in 2003 to avoid charges of abuse of power, would attend the funeral. But Sergei Baburin, Deputy Speaker of Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament, said earlier she would not fly to Belgrade.

Milosevic's son Marko, who flew to the Netherlands from Russia on Tuesday, had said he would consider a Moscow funeral if it was not safe for his mother to travel to Serbia.

Source: China Daily