Serbian police say they had found the remains of slain communist-era President Ivan Stambolic.
A friend-turned-foe of Mr Slobodan Milosevic, Mr Stambolic disappeared shortly before Mr Milosevic was ousted in 2000.
Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said today Mr Stambolic, who disappeared while jogging in Belgrade in August 2000, had been abducted by four members of a special police unit set up under Mr Milosevic's rule and later executed.
"His remains have been dug out of a pit in Mount Fruska Gora," Mr Mihajlovic told a news conference, referring to a hilly region in northern Serbia. "The investigation has established that Mr Stambolic's execution was politically motivated." Mr Stambolic played a key role in Mr Milosevic's downfall.
He was Serbia's president before Mr Milosevic took over in the late 1980s.
