Thousands of mourners to gather for home-town funeral of Milosevic

Miomir Ilic, the town's Socialist mayor, said up to 90,000 mourners were to be bussed in for the event at the family's home in the town, and complained about the lack of involvement of the state. "We have encountered great obstacles in organising this event," he said. "This is just a small town... the state should have organised the funeral."

Both Milosevic and his wife Mira Markovic grew up in Pozarevac.

A bitter death notice in Politika, the pro-government newspaper, read: "Thank you for all the deceits, for every drop of blood spilt for you by thousands, for the wasted lives, for the wars which you - without asking our permission - waged on our behalf, for all the burdens you placed on our shoulders."

Meanwhile, the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague said that initial results of blood tests showed no sign that Milosevic's death was caused by poisoning. The team said it had found no traces of rifampicin, an antibiotic that could have counteracted Mr Milosevic's medication for his heart condition.