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Milosevic Could Face Questioning Soon
BELGRADE, Feb 26 (News Agencies) - Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who is wanted for trial by a U.N. war crimes court, could soon face questioning by investigators, radio B92 reported Monday quoting sources in Milosevic's party.
"There are signs that investigators will pay a visit to the former Yugoslav president some time this week," said the report quoting an unnamed official in Milosevic's Socialist Party (SPS).
The radio did not specify which charges Milosevic may be facing but other press reports said he is suspected of having funneled millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts and bought a villa at a token price.
The independent newspaper Danas on Saturday quoted a party official as saying that Belgrade's ruling party was preparing for Milosevic's arrest.
"According to our source, leaders of the SPS got wind that the DOS [ruling coalition] wants to proceed with the arrest of Milosevic and several of his close colleagues in the coming days," Danas reported.
"Everything has been prepared for the arrest. An entire wing of a Belgrade prison has been cleaned and renovated especially for members of the old establishment," it said.
The former president, who was ousted from power in a popular uprising in October after he lost a general election, and four of his close allies are wanted for war crimes in connection with the Serb terror campaign carried out in Kosovo in 1999.
However, many in the government oppose sending Milosevic to The Hague headquarters of the U.N. war crimes court, and would prefer that he face trial in Belgrade.
Notorious secret police chief Rade Markovic, arrested on Friday, was ordered to be held in preventative detention for 30 days more, according to Monday's edition of the daily Vecernje Novosti.
Markovic has been charged with "premeditated murder" in connection with a car accident that killed the bodyguards and political ally of the then prominent opposition politician Vuk Draskovic.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was quoted by the Beta news agency as saying Monday that if it had been up to him alone "Markovic would have been arrested on October 5th," the day Milosevic was pushed from power.
"There are signs that he [Markovic] took part in the worst state crimes that were organized during the period," Djindjic said.
Markovic was appointed by Milosevic on October 27, 1998, and resigned on January 25th this year - the day Djindjic's government took power.
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