More on this case: http://www.antiwrap.com/?938
Milosevic took drug to boost poisoning claim: expert Last Updated Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:13:52 EST CBC News Slobodan Milosevic's remains were released for burial Monday amid questions about whether the former Yugoslavian president had deliberately taken a harmful drug in the weeks before his fatal heart attack. Milosevic, 64, was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague early Saturday, just as his four-year United Nations tribunal trial on war crimes charges was nearing its conclusion. A preliminary autopsy report released by Dutch pathologists on Sunday indicated that he died of a heart attack. However, a Dutch toxicologist who examined blood test results from Milosevic two weeks ago said Monday that he was convinced the so-called "Butcher of the Balkans" had been taking an antibiotic drug to deliberately worsen his long-standing heart condition. Donald Uges said he believed Milosevic was doing that to bolster his claim that UN officials were poisoning him, so that he would be sent to Russia for independent tests and treatment. That's where Milosevic's wife, son and brother have been living. Uges said the former Serb leader's blood contained traces of rifampicin, an antibiotic used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis. Rifampicin would have lessened the effectiveness of other medicines he was taking, including medication to lower his blood pressure. Uges, a toxicologist based at the University Hospital of Groningen, did not know whose blood results he was examining when he detected the presence of rifampicin. Full results of the Dutch autopsy won't be available until later in the week. The UN's chief prosecutor at the trial, Carla Del Ponte, said on the weekend that Milosevic might have committed suicide rather than be found guilty of war crimes. She pointed out that Milan Babic, a former Croatian Serb leader, killed himself in the same jail in The Hague just a week before Milosevic's body was found. Babic is believed to have hanged himself. Wanted to be tested in Russia A legal aide acting for Milosevic's family, Zdenko Tomanovic, said Monday that Milosevic had written a six-page letter to Russian officials the day before his death. In the letter, Milosevic alleged that blood tests had shown the presence of an antibiotic he had not knowingly taken. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted Monday as saying his government did not trust the Dutch autopsy results. A team of Russian medical experts was travelling to The Hague to examine the report, Russian media said. A native of Serbia, Milosevic faced 66 charges, including genocide, for his role in a civil war in the 1990s that killed 250,000 people in the former Yugoslavia . The tribunal has announced that it will convene a hearing early Tuesday morning to officially close the proceedings against Milosevic. Slobodan Milosevic (AP Photo) Family seeks burial in Belgrade Meanwhile, the Dutch government said its embassy in Moscow has granted Milosevic's son, Marko, a three-day visa so that he can travel to The Hague to collect his father's body. The Milosevic family has been pushing for the former president to be buried in Belgrade despite outstanding arrest warrants for Marko Milosevic and Milosevic's widow, Mirjana Markovi. The pair could be arrested on charges of abuse of power if they return to Serbia from Russia. Serbian President Boris Tadic has refused to pardon them for their actions during Milosevic's bloody reign. On the weekend, Tadic also said he wouldn't authorize a state funeral for Milosevic in the country of his birth. Marko Milosevic appeared on Russian television Monday to say the family would have Milosevic buried in Moscow temporarily if Serbian authorities would not allow him and his mother to travel safely to Belgrade. "I just lost my father and do not want to risk my mother," he said, according to a Reuters report. Milosevic said his father's remains would stay interred in Moscow "until the conditions in Serbia are right to move his body there." Copyright (c)2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved On 3/11/06, Larry C. Lyons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > C'mon the guy has serious heart problems. He died of natural causes. > > Besides given what a facist thug he was he deserved it. He ordered the > ethnic cleansing campaigns in Bosinia and Kosovo. There was also > evidence that he may have directly ordered the massacre of hundreds at > Srebrenica. Its a darned pity he could not have been executed as a war > criminal. > > larry > > On 3/11/06, Vivec <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Can Saddam be far behind? ;) > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:199920 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
