Former Yugoslav and Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was buried at dusk Saturday in a low-key private funeral in the courtyard of his family compound in Pozarevac, some 80 km east of Belgrade.

When the hearse carrying Milosevic's coffin approached, big crowds of people queuing along the road gathered around the hearse, and moved to the city center for a farewell ceremony before his burial.

"He had the courage of a statesman at times of the greatest trouble for the people and he was never a coward," Milorad Vucelic, vice president of Milosevic's Socialist Party, declared to tens of thousands of people in the town center.

Milosevic's coffin was lowered into the grave in the courtyard of his family home at dusk with a drizzle falling and dirge in the air.

The Serbian government has refused to hold a state funeral for Milosevic, who died a week ago while on trial before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Earlier on Saturday morning, some 100,000 mourners gathered in central Belgrade to bid a final farewell to Milosevic in a commemorative ceremony before the parliament building.

Milosevic's widow Mira Markovic did not attend his funeral for fear of being arrested on charges of abuse of power at home. His son Marko and daughter Marija were also absent.

The 64-year-old Milosevic died of a heart attack last Saturday in his cell in the UN detention unit in The Hague. In a trial started on Feb. 12, 2002, he faced 66 charges of war crimes, including genocide for his role in the Balkan wars following the breakup of the Yugoslav federation in the 1990s.

Source: Xinhua