Milosevic rival's remains found

Milosevic rival's remains found

Stambolic was seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2000

Serbian police say they have found the remains of Ivan Stambolic, a former Serbian president who went missing nearly three years ago.

Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said Mr Stambolic had been buried in quicklime in a pit in hills near the northern city of Novi Sad.

He said he had been executed with two bullets by a special police unit loyal to former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

He added that Mr Milosevic, who is currently standing trial for war crimes in The Hague, and his wife Mirjana Markovic, would be questioned.

Markovic 'on the run'

Serbian media said later that police were searching for Mrs Markovic.

STAMBOLIC BIOGRAPHY

1975: becomes Serbian PM

1986: becomes Serbian president

April 1987: Milosevic embraces nationalism

December 1987: Stambolic dismissed as president

1997: dismissed from Yugoslav Bank for International Co-operation

August 2000: disappears

March 2003: remains found

B92 radio and the Tanjug news agency reported that she was on the run.

"She is not in any of her houses and chase is underway," said B92, quoting police sources.

Mr Stambolic disappeared while jogging in Belgrade two months before the October 2000 presidential election, which led to Mr Milosevic being driven from office.

There was much speculation at the time that Mr Stambolic would run against Mr Milosevic.

Self-defence shootings

The discovery of his remains comes during an unprecedented police crackdown on organised crime and the "remants of the Milosevic regime", sparked by the killing of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic on 12 May.

The two men were political partners before they fell out

Overall more than 1,000 people have been arrested, and some 400 have been charged.

Among them are Mr Djindjic's suspected assassin, and four men accused of killing Mr Stambolic.

All five were members of a special police unit, the JSO, which was disbanded this week.

Two alleged mafia bosses from the Zemun Clan, which is suspected of planning Mr Djindjic's assassination, were also killed in a shootout with police late on Thursday.

The men, named as Dusan Spasojevic and Mile Lukovic, were reportedly shot in a Belgrade suburb where they had been hiding.

Serbian officials said the men were shot in self defence as they tried to use automatic weapons and hand grenades against the police.

The clan leader, Milorad Lukovic, known as Legija (no relation of Mile Lukovic) is still at large.

Fears confirmed

Ivan Stambolic rose through the ranks of the Yugoslav Communist Party to become president of Serbia in the 1980s.

But he was forced from power by his former friend and protege, Slobodan Milosevic, in 1987, who succeeded him as president.

It is sad that Djindjic had to die for this murder to be solved

Veljko Stambolic
former president's son

Mr Stambolic left politics to become a successful banker but lost his job in 1997, allegedly because he dared to criticise President Milosevic.

At the time of his kidnapping, opposition leaders raised fears that he had been killed for political reasons.

Mr Mihajlovic said these fears had now been confirmed.

Mr Stambolic's son Veljko said on Friday he had always believed that Mr Milosevic was behind the killing.

"Milosevic was so afraid of my father as his most prominent political opponent," he said.

"It is sad that Djindjic had to die for this murder to be solved."