Standoff Follows Milosevic Arrest Attempt
March 31 -- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been arrested after being held up in his villa after two failed attempts by police to take him into custody.
He was taken into custody after police stormed the villa a third time. Trucks reportedly left with the ousted Yugoslav President inside.Four or five shots were heard just before the arrest.
Branislan Ivkovic told Reuters Milosevic surrendered voluntarily "to include himself in the legal procedure." Government officials had been negotiating for hours with Milosevic, trying to persuade him to surrender and avoid blooshed.
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica warned that he did not want bloodshed but that no one was above the law if the state was to survive. Several hundred riot police lay seige to the house of Milosevic in the second night of the standoff. Milosevic had vowed that he would defy the authorities to his death.
Tensions were rising early Sunday in Belgrade when over 50 police were gathering close to one of the gates at the huge villa.
Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said police were authorized to arrest Milosevic for abuse of office and financial crimes— but not so he could be extradited to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Mihajlovic said the former Yugoslav president is under house arrest.
Defiant Milosevic Would Rather Die
Earlier, Milosevic told police he would rather die than surrender, and an attempt to enter his home was met by gunfire from one of his dozens personal guards. The gunfire injured three people, including two policemen.
Police temporarily backed off, but remained on the property in a tense stand-off.
About 100 protesters outside his house in Belgrade chant their support for the former leader, saying, "Slobo, you are our freedom," "Slobo, come back and save Serbia," and "Traitors, traitors, we won't give up Slobo."
"A bunch of drunkards will not stop us," Mihajlovic said of Milosevic's supporters.
More than 50 police in helmets and riot gear surrounded the compound when the raid began., while about a dozen commandos climbed over a fence to get into the perimeter. Gunshots rang out both inside and outside the compound while stun grenades were thrown as police forces arrived.
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