Il Nuovo Postiglione - War criminal Mladic's body returns to Serbia with military honours

The casket, draped in the Serbian flag, was carried from the plane by six soldiers after arriving from The Hague, accompanied by Mladic's son Darko and Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic.

The body was then driven from the airport under police escort, reportedly to a Belgrade military hospital.

Mladic died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

Pro-government media broadcast images of dozens of people, mostly young men, gathered on footbridges over the motorway, displaying banners honouring Mladic and lighting flares as the convoy passed.

The same outlets reported details of the funeral, including a public service at a church scheduled for Monday, but no details have been officially confirmed.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier Thursday that the state would provide "every kind of logistical and transport support" and he expected tens of thousands to gather for the funeral.

The court ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mladic's death, which had to be completed before his family could take possession of the body.

- EU concern -

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos on Monday criticised plans to bury Mladic with state honours.

"Regarding Ratko Mladic, the glorification of war criminals is contrary to fundamental European values and has no place in the European Union or in countries that aspire to become members," Kos said in Slovenia.

Mladic, who had suffered several strokes in recent months, was convicted of atrocities committed during Bosnia's war, which killed around 100,000 people and forced 2.2 million from their homes.

His role in the killings earned him the nickname the "Butcher of Bosnia", particularly for his role in the Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.

Mladic was the military face of a brutal leadership alongside former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

After receiving the body, the military hospital said it would carry out a post-mortem examination "at the request of Mladic's family and the justice minister".

Dr Ivan Lekovic, deputy head of the hospital, said: "All findings, including the post-mortem results and those of all analyses and examinations, will be provided to the family and the relevant institutions as soon as possible."

Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said last week that Mladic "will receive all the military and state honours to which he is entitled".

Vucic said only that the funeral would be "dignified and in accordance with the family's wishes".

R.Agosti--INP