Milosevic wife pays birthday visit

Mira Markovic, daughter-in-law Milica and grandson Marko leaving Belgrade airport

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- Sloboban Milosevic has received presents and hugs from his family on his 60th birthday.

The former Yugoslav president was visited in jail by his wife Mira Markovic, two-year-old grandson Marko, and daughter-in-law Milica Gajic.

The meeting took place in a so-called intimacy room within the international war crimes tribunal detention centre in The Hague, where Milosevic has been held since his transfer to the Netherlands in June.

The celebrations on Monday were a far cry from Milosevic's days of power when birthday messages from loyal aides and supporters would be read-out on state television.

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Milosevic's lawyer, Dragoslav Ognjanovic, said: "He feels very well. He is happy to be with his grandson.

"There is personal, direct contact. They can hug and kiss each other.

"There are many gifts from family and friends."

Two United Nations officials were in the visiting room with Milosevic and his family at Scheveningen prison.

Ognjanovic added: "They are a very close family. Of course they love each other very much. He adores his grandson like every single grandfather."

Milosevic was handed to The Hague by the Yugoslav authorities after a 36-hour armed stand-off at his luxury villa earlier this year.

He is charged with four counts of war crimes, including crimes against humanity, for the deportation of about 750,000 ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo, as well as the deaths of hundreds of people killed during the Kosovo conflict in 1999. All carry possible life sentences.

Tribunal prosecutors have not ruled out expanded charges. A trial is expected to start next year.

Monday's visit was not the first by Milosevic's family.

His wife, grandson, and daughter-in-law visited him on Saturday. They are expected to return home on Tuesday, the Dutch foreign ministry said.

Last month, during Markovic's first visit to her husband, the couple were separated by a glass partition and were able to talk only by telephone.

This week lawyers for Milosevic are set to mount a legal challenge against his detention.

A hearing before a judge has been scheduled for next Thursday in a district court in The Hague.

Milosevic celebrates his 60th birthday on Monday

The proceeding is to take place one week before Milosevic's second scheduled appearance before the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Milosevic's supporters are seeking to block the right of the U.N. court to try him and have his handover to The Hague declared unlawful.

His lawyers are working on behalf of The International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic, which includes former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Previous attempts by war crimes suspects facing trial at The Hague to challenge the jurisdiction of the U.N. court have failed.

The tribunal, established by the U.N. Security Council in May 1993, says it has a higher authority than national courts.