Slobodan Milosevic's flag-draped coffin went on public display today for hundreds of tearful supporters paying their last respects to man known to some as the 'Butcher of the Balkans' who died while being tried for war crimes.
A large framed colour photograph of the late Serbian leader was placed in front of the casket inside Belgrade's Museum of Revolution, a gallery once devoted to former Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito.
Milosevic died last Saturday at a UN detention center in the Netherlands near the war crimes tribunal that was trying him on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
He will be buried this Saturday in the grounds of the family estate in the industrial town of Pozarevac, about 30 miles southeast of Belgrade.
Reflecting the controversy about Milosevic's legacy, Serbia's government has refused to hold a state ceremony, leaving it to his family and his Socialist allies to organize the funeral.
Milosevic's followers, most of whom were elderly, stood in silence along the cobblestone path leading to the museum entrance. Some sobbed quietly; many clutched red roses - the symbol of Milosevic's Socialist Party.
Milorad Vucelic, the Socialist Party deputy president who organized today's viewing, said he expected Milosevic's widow, Mirjana Markovic, to arrive tomorrow from Moscow.
Markovic, who lives in Russia in self-imposed exile, has indicated she would not come until all charges against her for alleged abuse of power during Milosevic's reign were dropped.
After the Socialists were refused permission to display Milosevic's coffin at several other more prominent locations, including the downtown federal parliament building, they opted for the Museum of Revolution.
The decaying building in Belgrade's plush Dedinje district used to hold numerous gifts Tito received from foreign statesmen during his iron-fisted rule of ex-Yugoslavia from World War II until his death in 1981. It has been closed for years due to a lack of visitors.
The museum is only a few hundred yards from Tito's grave and from Milosevic's old residence, where he was arrested in 2001, before his extradition to The Hague tribunal.
Museum director Ljijljana Cetinic said she did not approve the display of Milosevic's coffin there, which she said was "turning the museum into a funeral parlor."
Questions have swirled this week about Milosevic's death. His son, Marko, says he was poisoned, while the tribunal says he had a heart attack, although toxicology results have not been announced. Russia says Milosevic did not receive proper treatment.
Milosevic's body will be taken to Pozarevac for private burial on Saturday.
The Socialists, ousted from power along with Milosevic in 2000, are hoping to make political gains from his death.
They had wanted a funeral with state honors at a cemetery reserved for prominent Serbs, but authorities rejected that demand.
Although Milosevic's followers hold municipal power in Pozarevac, Belgrade is dominated by the pro-Western Democratic Party led by President Boris Tadic — a bloc determined to avoid anything that could be seen as legitimizing Milosevic or his policies.
In pressing for a Belgrade ceremony, the Socialists threatened to topple the minority government if Milosevic were denied a funeral in Serbia.