Arkan murder suspects on trial

Arkan was accused of atrocities against civilians

A former policeman accused of murdering the Serbian warlord Arkan in January has pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial in Belgrade.

Dobrusav Gavric appeared on Tuesday in court in a wheelchair - a result of injuries he received in the shoot-out which followed the murder in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel.

Gavric has denied the murder

He told the court he had been to the hotel at the time of Arkan's murder to meet a friend and had nothing to do with the crime.

Three other men are on trial with Mr Gavric for murder, one of them in absentia.

If found guilty, they could face the death penalty.

Six men have also been charged with being accomplices in the case.

Unknown motives

The court is expected to hear about 40 witnesses in the case, including a bodyguard who survived the attack and Arkan's widow.

Arkan - whose real name was Zeljko Radanovic - led a notorious Serb paramilitary unit during the Croatian and Bosnian wars, and was accused of countless atrocities against the civilian population.

He was indicted by the Hague War Crimes Tribunal in 1997.

Arkan's death, on 15 January this year, triggered much speculation about the possible motive for his killing.

Some people believed the authorities had ordered the assassination because Arkan knew too much about their responsibility for the wars of the 1990s.

His mother insists that Western powers were behind Arkan's death.

The prosecution has not given any indication that others besides the defendants were involved in the murder.