Croatia remembers Tito

KUMROVEC, Croatia -- About 2,000 people have celebrated the 110th anniversary of former Yugoslav leader Josip Tito.

Crowds gathered in his hometown of Kumrovec, Croatia, to honour the man who united federal Yugoslavia after World War II.

Tito's ruled Yugoslavia as a dictatorship until his death on May 4, 1980, but often faced criticism from the West for ruthless policies against nationalists and human rights activists.

But on Saturday's anniversary he was remembered as a man who led the multi-ethnic, six-nation federation on a road between Western capitalism and the communist East.

Many in the crowd had travelled from neighbouring ex-Yugoslav republics such as Slovenia.

Mate Grubisa, Tito's personal courier for part of World War II, told The Associated Press: "I am very proud I have spent a part of my life with Tito."

Former anti-fascist soldiers held speeches and recited poems, while school children sang songs dedicated to the late leader on a makeshift stage in Kumrovec, 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the capital, Zagreb.

Tito's speeches were heard on loudspeakers, and an actor came dressed in a white marshal's uniform commonly worn by the late leader, greeting the veterans.

His death led to an outburst of nationalism in Yugoslavia that contributed to its bloody fragmentation.

Four republics have broken away since 1991 – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro -- and the Serbian province of Kosovo is now under U.N. administration.