Citing preliminary findings of an autopsy carried out by Dutch pathologists Sunday, UN war crimes officials say Slobodan Milosevic died of a heart attack. The former Yugoslav president was found dead in his cell Saturday.
Slobodan Milosevic died of heart failure. An eight-hour autopsy of the former president was carried out Sunday afternoon by Dutch pathologists in the presence of two experts from Belgrade.
War crimes tribunal officials say a short summary of his autopsy lists his cause of death as a "myocardial infarction." They also found he suffered from two heart conditions that would explain his heart attack.
A toxicological examination is still in the works - all the more important following charges by Mr. Milosevic's lawyers that the former president thought he was being poisoned in the Hague jail. Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte dismissed stories that Milosevic was poisoned or committed suicide as just "rumors."
Slobodan Milosevic's remains will be released to his family Monday, although there's disagreement among his relatives over where he should be buried - in Serbia, where he's from, or in Russia, where his wife and son are in exile.
Milosevic and his wife, Mira, were notoriously close, with some saying she was the power behind him.
A final report on Milosevic's death is expected in the coming days, although it's almost certain that the report will not be the final word.
