Still, though larger than many had expected, the crowd in Belgrade was far
smaller than the 500,000 who turned out for the 2003 funeral of assassinated
Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic, who had turned Milosevic over to the U.N.
tribunal two years earlier.
Milosevic died March 11 in his room at a U.N. detention center near the
tribunal, which was trying him on 66 counts of war crimes, including genocide.
He was the first head of state to be extradited by his country for trial by a
U.N. court.
Ultranationalist leaders and at least five retired Yugoslav generals wearing
dress uniforms stood by the stage in Belgrade.
"We are bidding farewell to the best one among us, fully conscious of his
greatness," said Milorad Vucelic, Socialist Party deputy president.
Bosko Nikolic, 42, holding a huge poster of Milosevic, said: "I came to say
goodbye to the greatest son of Serbia."
Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general and longtime Milosevic supporter
who is now on Saddam Hussein's defense team, drew cheers by telling the crowd:
"History will prove that Slobodan Milosevic was right."
But some drivers passing by the square honked car horns and made obscene
gestures at the Milosevic supporters, underscoring the disgust many Serbs feel
toward the late leader.
"All of Belgrade's squares would be too small for all the victims of
Milosevic and his rule," said Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, who was twice
targeted for assassination by the Milosevic regime. "A murderer and his crimes
were glorified today."
Later Saturday, about 2,000 anti-Milosevic activists gathered at another
central Belgrade square for an impromptu rally.
The activists, mostly young people, waved red balloons, whistled, danced and
shouted: "He is gone!" They also burned Milosevic's picture and scuffled briefly
with a dozen Karadzic supporters who tried to disrupt the gathering.