Slobodan Milosevic, central figure in a decade of Balkan wars, was arrested and jailed in the early hours of yesterday morning, ending a tense stand-off between the ex-Yugoslav president and his reformist successors.
The move put Milosevic behind bars on suspicion of abuse of office, although he is also wanted by the UN war crimes tribunal to face the charge of crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in Kosovo in 1998-99.
The leader widely blamed for a decade of nationalist wars as the old Yugoslavia broke apart, was taken into custody from the Belgrade residence where he had been holed up for over 24 hours after resisting two previous arrest attempts.
NATO, the EU presidency, France, Britain, Germany and ex-Yugoslav republic Slovenia led an expected flood of international reaction welcoming the arrest.
"This is very welcome news to all those who have struggled so long to bring peace and justice to the Balkans," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said. "It's another important step to bringing Milosevic and his cronies to book for crimes against humanity."
"[We hope] this marks the end of Slobodan Milosevic's political career, which has caused the region so much devastation and its people so much suffering," Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said on behalf of the bloc.
Milosevic's adult daughter Marija fired several shots in the air in anger after Milosevic was taken away, Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said.
"Mr Milosevic will enjoy all the rights granted to him by the law," said Mihajlovic, a member of the reformist bloc which ousted the longtime leader in a mass uprising last October.
"There was no resistance and therefore no reason for the use of force," he said of the arrest.
Reporters outside the residence heard five shots just after 4:30am near Milosevic's residence as a small convoy of vehicles came from the direction of the house.
Shortly afterwards, they arrived at Belgrade's central prison, a concrete building with white bars on its windows. Officials confirmed Milosevic had been taken there.
Serbian authorities made two attempts to arrest Milosevic the previous night, the second time with black-clad masked commandos who stormed the compound and waged a gunbattle with the former president's private guards.
Milosevic decided to go into custody to avoid a bloodbath because he valued the lives of people ready to protect him, said Branislav Ivkovic, a senior official in his Socialist party.
Tension had run high outside the former president's residence during the stand-off. Opponents and supporters of Milosevic gathered and threw bottles, stones and clods of earth until they were separated by a police charge.
Serbian officials said they had wanted to resolve the crisis peacefully. "We had intelligence reports saying that there was lots of ammunition, arms and explosives in the residence," said Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.
The commandos pounced just before the expiry of a deadline set by US legislation for President George W. Bush to declare whether Yugoslavia is cooperating with the UN tribunal and can avoid economic sanctions and withholding of aid. US officials have said they expect to announce today whether Belgrade has passed muster.
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