Mourning and celebration divide Serbia at tyrant's passing
Colin Freeman
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Pozarevac (Serbia):
Slobodan Milosevic was finally buried in the Serbian soil for which he spilt so much blood yesterday, in a funeral that saw his country mourn and celebrate with equal passion.
As the former dictator was laid to rest in his home town of Pozarevac, south of Belgrade, an estimated 80,000 loyal followers turned out to pay their respects to the man they still regarded even in death as president.
But in a mark of the bitter divisions he created in his own country, his opponents held a counter-demonstration in Belgrade's Republic Square, releasing balloons to mark what they hoped would be the end of an era.
Millions more vented their contempt by staying away altogether. The day belonged, though, to Milosevic's followers, mainly die-hard supporters of his Socialist party and villagers from the red-neck heartlands of rural Serbia, where his fiery nationalism remains an orthodoxy.
Mar 19, 2006
Colin Freeman
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Pozarevac (Serbia):
Slobodan Milosevic was finally buried in the Serbian soil for which he spilt so much blood yesterday, in a funeral that saw his country mourn and celebrate with equal passion.
As the former dictator was laid to rest in his home town of Pozarevac, south of Belgrade, an estimated 80,000 loyal followers turned out to pay their respects to the man they still regarded even in death as president.
But in a mark of the bitter divisions he created in his own country, his opponents held a counter-demonstration in Belgrade's Republic Square, releasing balloons to mark what they hoped would be the end of an era.
Millions more vented their contempt by staying away altogether. The day belonged, though, to Milosevic's followers, mainly die-hard supporters of his Socialist party and villagers from the red-neck heartlands of rural Serbia, where his fiery nationalism remains an orthodoxy.
Mar 19, 2006
