Milosevic supporters stand guard

Supporters say they will defend their hero

Supporters of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic are standing guard in front of his Belgrade villa to prevent his expected arrest on corruption charges.

Serbian authorities are now ready to press formal corruption charges against him and there is growing speculation he will be arrested within weeks.

But around 50 of his supporters are determined to prevent this.

Slobodan Milosevic: Arrest expected by 10 March

"These are the people's guards which will protect Slobodan Milosevic, a hero of our people as long as the hunt for him is on," said Sinisa Vucinic, one of those in front of Mr Milosevic's luxurious villa in the Dedinje quarter of Belgrade.

Former Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, also on guard, said they were there to "protect territorial integrity, freedom and social justice - everything that Milosevic represents".

Swiss gold

Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic told the BBC that police had handed over papers relating to allegations of corruption surrounding the former president's acquisition of property.

The papers will now be considered by a magistrate who is expected to press charges.

On Wednesday, the authorities also ordered a probe of allegations that Mr Milosevic smuggled more than $1m of gold abroad last year, around the time he was ousted by a popular uprising.

In a separate investigation, the Swiss Ministry of Economics is trying to pinpoint the transfer of the gold from Yugoslavia.

Vuk Draskovic: Claims Mr Milosevic was behind assassination attempt

Officials in Switzerland have confirmed that gold worth $1.1m was transferred from the Yugoslav state mining company in Belgrade to a Swiss firm between 21 September and 2 November last year.

They say the gold was refined in Switzerland and the proceeds from its sale were sent to companies in Cyprus and Greece.

However, they do not yet know if the gold belonged to Mr Milosevic.

Pressure from Hague

Investigators are also keen to find evidence linking Mr Milosevic to political assassinations, abductions and the attempted murder of the leading opposition figure, Vuk Draskovic.

They had been hoping the former head of the secret service, Rade Markovic, who was arrested last Friday, would provide the evidence but the Serbian interior minister said Mr Markovic was so far not co-operating.

The new Yugoslav administration has been keen to try Mr Milosevic for his years of misrule since they overthrew him in October last year.

One anonymous source in the governing coalition of parties told the Beta news agency that the new authorities had set 10 March as the latest date for an arrest.

Yugoslav authorities insist Mr Milosevic must stand trial at home before they consider handing him over to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

But The Hague tribunal is bringing increasing pressure on Belgrade to hand over indicted war criminals.

It says the latest developments did not change Mr Milosevic's position as an indicted war criminal with regards to the Hague tribunal.