Balkan press mulls Milosevic legacy

Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his cell at the UN tribunal

Two days after the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the press in the countries of the former Yugoslavia discuss where he is likely to be buried, and the effect of his policies on the region.

In the Bosnian Serb daily Nezavisne Novin, a commentator expresses frustration that Mr Milosevic did not live to see justice served.

"The trial was not completed, and what is left is speculation on what the verdict might have been.

Milosevic will be remembered as a man who started and then lost four wars Dnevni Avaz

"One thing is certain: historians will have to assume responsibility for judging Milosevic and his era, which was marked by wars, exodus, blood and tears."

But the commentary has its own verdict.

"Historians will have to say that he succeeded in dividing the Serb nation, both in life and in death, into those who believed that he was doing everything in their interest and those who wanted him to be put on trial for crimes committed against others in the name of the Serb nation.

"The undisputed fact is that the Serb nation has also suffered and bled due to Milosevic's policies when he waged war, first, with his neighbours, and then with the entire world."

'Warmonger'

These sentiments are echoed in the leading Bosnian Muslim daily Dnevni Avaz, which sees Mr Milosevic as a divisive factor in Serbia's history, and a loser in the regional power struggle.

"Milosevic will be remembered as a man who started and then lost four wars, who lost almost two-thirds of the territory of the country he was leading, a man who lost all his friends, his home, and even his family, and in the end lost what even the humblest beggar never loses: his right to two square metres of burial ground in his own country."

The man who dreamed of a Greater Serbia met his death in a cell no larger than 15 square metres Dnevnik

In a commentary headlined "Dreams of a Greater Serbia end in a tiny prison cell", the Slovene daily Dnevnik describes what it sees as the banality of the former president's last days and demise.

"He was lying in his bed, dressed in his pyjamas," it says.

"The man who dreamed of a Greater Serbia met his death in a cell no larger than 15 square metres.

"In it, he used to listen to recordings of Frank Sinatra and watch TV. The room had a toilet and bathroom. The inmate had at his disposal a table with chairs, a closet, a burner for making coffee and a bed," it observes.

Where to bury him?

Mr Milosevic's death has come at a difficult moment for Serbia, the Croatian paper Vjesnik believes.

"Although no major unrest is expected, people are saying that even the preparations for the funeral and the divisions in Serbia over where Milosevic should be buried - the Avenue of the Great [Belgrade cemetery for prominent political and cultural figures] or a cemetery in Pozarevac - could create tensions, which might last for months in this critical year for Serbia when Kosovo and Montenegro are leaving," it says.

The Serbian daily Politika speculates on what a decision to bury Mr Milosevic in the Avenue of the Great might imply for Serbian politics.

"Some believe that the decision to bury Milosevic in the Avenue of the Great with full state honours would practically mean that he has been acquitted of all charges," it says.

'Legend'

The Serbian Blic contrasts what it suggests were the two sides of Mr Milosevic's persona: one which commanded respect and another responsible for a trail of destruction throughout the former Yugoslavia.

The SPS believes that Slobodan Milosevic is a historical figure Ivan Dacic in Danas

"What Milosevic failed to accomplish in Yugoslavia, he managed to do in Scheveningen [the detention facility in The Hague]: the majority of his fellow inmates, regardless of their nationality (with the exception of Kosovo Albanians), addressed him simply as 'Mr President'," the daily observes.

But it also carries 12 photographs with captions denoting the most controversial events from Mr Milosevic's tenure as president of Serbia and the rump Yugoslavia - from the destruction of Vukovar and the killing of his one-time patron Ivan Stambolic, to rigged elections and the Nato intervention over Kosovo in 1999.

Serbia's Danas carries excerpts from a speech by a top official in Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Ivica Dacic, who said that those who had handed over the former president to The Hague tribunal would one day be put on trial themselves.

"Slobodan Milosevic was killed by The Hague tribunal's decision not to allow him to undergo treatment in Moscow, and the time will come when those who extradited him to that court will stand trial themselves," Mr Dacic reportedly said.

"The SPS believes that Slobodan Milosevic is a historical figure and... those who handed him over to The Hague tribunal have ejected themselves from Serbian history, while propelling him into legend," Mr Dacic is quoted as saying.

But Bosnia's Oslobodjenje, one of Sarajevo's oldest papers, has a rather different opinion of Mr Milosevic's place in history.

"The world fell for his lies about peace-making, while he concealed behind his smile the mass graves and killing fields across the former country," it says.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.