Warlord's widow wows Serbian public

Thousands packed the stadium for a glimpse of the star

By Matthew Price BBC News, in Belgrade

In Belgrade around 100,000 people have attended Serbia's biggest music concert in recent years to hear the folk musician Ceca.

She is Serbia's most popular star, and is courted in the country as a tabloid celebrity.

Ceca: Famous for "turbo-folk" - a modern version of Serbian folk songs

But she is perhaps better known in the rest of the world as the widow of the former Serbian warlord, known as Arkan, who was indicted for war crimes by the international tribunal in The Hague.

Loud roars greeted Ceca, otherwise known as Svetlana Raznatovic Ceca, as she took to the stage in Belgrade's Marakana stadium on Saturday night.

Two massive screens flanked the vast palm tree decorated podium. Before it there was a sea of fans amid scenes of adoration you might associate more with a singer of international standing such as Madonna.

Hardly known outside Yugoslavia, Ceca is Serbia's biggest music star.

Perhaps, controversially, she dedicated the show to her late husband.

The couple's marriage was a tabloid sensation in Yugoslavia. It ended when Arkan was shot dead just over two years ago.

But for the sell-out crowd and for the hundreds of thousands watching at home live on TV, this was all about music and the glamorous Serbian superstar performing for them up on stage.