Slobodan Milosevic -- a butcher to some, Serbian hero to others -- died before a war crimes tribunal could pass judgment on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against him.

The former leader of Yugslavia was 64 when he was found dead in his cell at the U.N. detention centre in The Hague on Saturday morning.

Investigators have completed their preliminary investigation. An autopsy will be performed Sunday.

"Milosevic was found lifeless on his bed in his cell at the United Nations detention unit," the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said in a statement.

"The guard immediately alerted the detention unit officer in command and the medical officer. The latter confirmed that Slobodan Milosevic was dead."

Gerri Eickhof, a Dutch journalist with NOS Television, told CTV Newsnet that the full autopsy could not begin until two Serbian doctors arrived.

"It was well known that he was in not very good health condition. He suffered from high blood pressure, there was fear of heart attacks, fear of brain attacks ...," Eickhof said.

Milosevic, 64, faced 66 charges for his role in the Balkan conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s -- conflicts he is said to have orchestrated.

He was accused of ordering the ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in an attempt to link Serbia with Serb-dominated areas of Croatia and Bosnia to create a new Greater Serbia.

He had spent much of his trial defending himself against allegations of crimes in Kosovo. Milosevic also faced accusations of overseeing the slaughter of 8,000 Muslims from eastern Srebrenica.

Reaction

"Three hundred thousand people dead and 2.5 million homeless, all because of Slobodan Milosevic," said Richard Holbrooke, a one-time U.S. special envoy.

"I'm glad he's dead. He sent the soldiers who killed our sons," one Muslim woman in an area that was formerly part of Yugoslavia.

The Association of Srebrenica Mothers were primarily concerned that Milosevic's death meant he would not have to face justice for his crimes.

"However, it seems that God punished him already," Hajra Catic, a member of the association told the BBC.

Croatia's leader was equally unsympathetic.

"It is a pity he didn't live to the end of the trial to get the sentence he deserved," Croatian President Stipe Mesic said.

Retired General Lewis MacKenzie said he wasn't surprised by Milosevic's death.

MacKenzie said he expects conspiracy theories to swirl in Belgrade around Milosevic's death, and suggested people will argue Milosevic was assassinated because the trial was swinging in his favour.

In Milosevic's native Serbia, vigils and other public mourning marked his passing.

"Slobodan Milosevic will be a legend, an icon we have to keep," said one Socialist Party official.

The trial has been interrupted numerous times due to Milosevic's poor health, and the tribunal had recently denied Milosevic's request to travel to Russia to receive specialized medical treatment.

Milosevic said his health was worsening and he would challenge the decision.

Milosevic's brother Borislav said the war crimes court was entirely responsible for his death.

"All responsibility for this lies on the shoulders of the international tribunal. He asked for treatment several months ago, they knew this," he told The Associated Press. "They drove him to this as they didn't want to let him out alive."

Last week, Milosevic's trial was put on hold until to await his next defence witness.

Milosevic had submitted a subpoena request to force former U.S. president Bill Clinton to take the stand as a witness.

Background

Milosevic, a communist bureaucrat and ruthless politician, rose to power in Yugoslavia in the 1980s. His rise paralleled the rise of forces that would cause the communist country to disintegrate into ethnically distinct countries.

His followers saw him as a saviour and protector of the Serb nation.

The wars began in 1992. By 1995, the international community forced Milosevic to negotiate peace.

But in 1997, he was back at it, fighting ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

By then, the west had had enough. NATO bombed Serbia, forcing Milosevic to give up the fight.

Fellow Serbs began forcing him to give up office. In 2000, mobs in Belgrade attacked government buildings, Milosevic was out. Within months, he was a prisoner of the international community, and the first head of state facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Milosevic has been on trial since February 2002.

Milosevic's wife, Mirjana Markovic, was often said to be the power behind the notorious leader known as "The Butcher of the Balkans." Since 2003 she has exiled herself to Russia where Milosevic's son, Marko, also lives.

His daughter, Marija, lives in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.

Milosevic's death follows less than one week after the suicide of Serb leader Milan Babic, who was serving a 13-year prison sentence in the same prison.

Babic's 2002 testimony detailed a command structure led by Milosevic.

While there are more 70 other defendants in the Hague, two key Serb figures have still managed to evade capture: Radovan Karadzic, former president of the Bosnian Serbs, and Ratko Mladic, his top general.

With a report from CTV's Tom Kennedy