Who Killed Arkan?

On Saturday, January 15, at 5:05 p.m., a shooting occurred in Belgrade's Intercontinental Hotel in which Milenko Mandic, a.k.a. Manda, a businessman from Belgrade, was killed on the spot, while at least another two persons were seriously injured: Zeljko Raznatovic, a.k.a. Arkan, a pastry shop owner from Belgrade, and Dragan Garic, a member of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.  Raznatovic and Garic succumbed to their injuries soon after in Belgrade's Emergency Clinic.  Judging by eyewitness testimony, at least one unidentified individual directed shots from a firearm at them, while they were walking from the hotel's reception to the hotel exit door.  The perpetrator, or perpetrators left the scene of the crime in the confusion that ensued.  The police blocked the scene of the shooting, but also Belgrade's Center for Urgent Medical Interventions, and they began the usual procedures in such cases.

This is how Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan died.

As soon as the news broke, with a confused silence from the regime's media, and those media close to the regime, unavoidable speculations began.  Some remembered the deceased man's battles in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 1990 and on, and the long trace of blood that remained behind him and his soldiers there; others pointed to the many business ventures the deceased took part in and in which he stepped on the toes of many people, some of whom are considered very dangerous; others remembered the string of violent crimes in the distant and also the very recent past, with which the deceased was associated in one way or another; other's yet remembered the statement made several years ago in an interview given by the Serbian President at the time, Slobodan Milosevic in which he stated that Arkan is his "biggest enemy," connecting this to the conflict of interest between the deceased and Marko Milosevic in the monopoly over the import smuggling of liquid fuels; others yet say that the Hague Tribunal was very interested in the deceased and the information which he had, and that there were contacts made in that regard also.

Old, experienced Belgrade gangsters who reached their old age precisely because they were smart, simply shrugged their shoulders: they kept saying that this was buildind up for years now, that the man's time was up, that he should have cashed in all his property a long time ago (even at 50 pfenings to every German mark) and should have taken cover somewhere where Interpol and the Hague Tribunal have no access, and where he could quietly spend his two to three million marks...

Pride, vanity and ambition, they say; the common cause of death in that business.  Zeljko Raznatovic (1952, Brezice, Slovenija) began his long and successful career in that business from the very bottom: as a kid he used to steel women's purses in the Tashmajdan Park, and was chased, people say, by the young police officer, Radovan Stojicic Badza, who was assigned to that district at the beginning of his career.  Caught steeling, the young Zeljko was initially sentenced to three years in 1969, and another six months in a youth detention center.  His father Veljko and mother Slavka were not very happy with that, and even less when Zeljko headed to Europe to try out his luck as a thief there.  Strong, resourceful and brave, gifted with a mind for this type of job, he embarked on a series of holdups of banks and jewelry stores in Italy and northern Europe.  In Sweden, which he always loved, he was branded "the thief with a flower": he would enter a bank with a flower in one hand and a gun in the other and would ask the cashier to put all the cash in a bag; he would leave her the flower and would depart.  In only four months he carried out eighteen busts in Sweden and stole around 87,000 kronas, an entire fortune at the time.  He was very skillful with false documents and used about ten false names, one of which, Arkan, from a false Turkish passport, stayed with him.  When things got a little too hot for him in Sweden, he moved to Belgium, where immediately in 1975, during a bust gone wrong, he landed in prison on a ten year sentence.  After four years he managed to escape from prison, continuing to steel, but is caught in Holland, where he gets a seven year sentence.  After nine months he escapes from prison.  Again, in 1981, in Frankfurt, he is wounded during bust of a jewelry store, but escapes from hospital and comes back to Yugoslavia.

In 1983, an incident occurs in Belgrade which sheds completely different light on Arkan's future career, but also on a segment of his previous career.  For unknown reasons, two uninformed police officers, from the Tenth District Police Station of Palilula, set a trap for Arkan at his mother's, Slavka's place, in 27 March Street.  Raznatovic surprises them, armed with two revolvers, caliber .357 magnum; he wounds one of them on the spot, and the second one in the middle of the street, where he caught up with him.  It was only these policeman's luck that Arkan's revolvers were loaded with buckshot ammunition, even though one of the policemen remained an invalid for life.  At the time when Arkan shot the policeman in the leg on the street, an on-duty Belgrade Federal Ministry of Police patrol happened to be by and intervened.  The patrol chief claimed that a "colleague" was in question, and that Arkan had taken out regular i.d. from the Federal Ministry of Police.  Two days later Arkan was released from prison and was not charged with anything.  At that time many Belgrade crime figures stated that Arkan had been working "for years" for the Directorate for the Yugoslav Enemy Emigration Service with the Federal Ministry of State Security.  Their interpretation was that Arkan's father, Veljko, having realized that his son was a criminal, asked his friend Stane Dolanc, at that time the Federal Secretary for Internal Affairs, to take an interest in the young man and to find him a job somehow.  It seems that Arkan managed to fit in with Dolanc's unorthodox concepts of dealing with enemy emigrants - namely, to kill them all.  Later, stories were spun about Arkan having knocked off various people, but there were no real indications, and much less evidence of that ever having been the case.  Former members of this Federal Service allow for the fact that the young Raznatovic carried out tasks of a courier, and other tasks required by the Service abroad, but was far removed from the most important jobs.  Arkan himself was very  mysterious in respondind to all queries.  At that time he used to drive around Belgrade in a pink Cadillac with tinted windows, was visible everywhere where he needed to be seen and was generally taking that place in society where he would ultimately meet his death.  At that time he found admirers about town and in the media, people who today, surprisingly seem to forget their former enthusiasm for him.  At that time he was a mysterious hero, a kind of local James Bond figure with an aura of a secret agent who defended the Yugoslav fatherland abroad.  However, the ensuing two incidents confirmed such stories.  First at the end of 1983, Arkan seriously injured one citizen with whom he quarreled in the elevator of the building in Ivo Lola Ribar Street, where an illegal gambling casino was located: he hit him with a revolver and broke his arm.  The Belgrade police, which was already fed up with Arkan because of the shooting, took him to court.  When Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan was asked what his profession is in court, he answered that he works for the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.  The public prosecutor denied this, so that the judge was forced to ask for evidence to that effect.  The Ministry denied this, but Arkan took out a document proving that he got money for the renovation of his house in Ljutice Bogdana street precisely from the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs...  The second incident followed soon after in Sweden: in January of 1984 two policemen stopped a suspicious Mercedes Benz carrying four passengers, after a heist at a shopping center in Geteborg.  One of the passengers, identified as Zeljko Raznatovic, took out his gun and began shooting.  The policemen were wounded and the Mercedes passengers trampled the helpless policemen while they lay on the ground and fled away.  Several days later, on the Austrian border, German police stopped this vehicle on a Swedish warrant and arrested Raznatovic.  He was later released under circumstances that are not known, but in Belgrade it is believed that was upon Stane Dolanc's request to his German colleagues with whom he still had good relations.  >From that point Arkan settled down in Belgrade, leading a quieter life and not appearing in public as often as he used to.  It is said that he gambled here and there according to the principle "a .357 is stronger than an ace of spades."  

When political pluralism began to appear slowly in 1989, Arkan met the Minister of Internal Affairs, Radmilo Bogdanovic, through his contacts in the Red Star soccer club.  It is well know who called the shots in Red Star and how much it meant around town to be on good terms with the Red Star people.  Since the tribe of Red Star fans, known as Delije (Heroes), began veering off in the political direction of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Grandpa Radmilo asked Arkan to impose some order in their ranks.  He achieved this with lightening speed, using efficient methods as the official leader of the Heroes.  At that time Arkan and Radmilo Bogdanovic had become the greatest of friends: they hug and kiss each other publicly, at soccer games, and go out on the town together.  Arkan's star is on the rise.  With the help of his Red Star connections, he opens a pastry shop on the corner of his estate, on the intersection of Ljutice Bogdana and Sokobanjska streets.  There were rumors at the time that behind the pastry shop there was a private gambling casino, specializing in "fleecing sheep."  However, Arkan's first big opportunity came in 1990 when Milosevic's regime decided to organize a revolt of Serbs in Croatia.  People like Arkan appeared to have been made for the wars that would ensue in the Balkans.  At that time the Serbian Volunteer Guard was created, a formation which Arkan put together in very close cooperation with the Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs and the people who will later become the military line of Milosevic's regime.  During one of his reconnaissance missions in Croatia in 1990, Arkan was arrested by the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

A very odd mix of people participated in that incident: Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, a Dusan Bandic from Belgrade, a Dusan Caric from Dvor, near the Una River, and Zoran Stevanovic, an underground crime figure from Belgrade.  That team was riding in Arkan's terrain vehicle from Knin to Belgrade, but across Dvor on the Una River, which is not exactly a direct route.  Late at night, in Dvor, they drove around town as if deliberately wanting to attract attention.  Finally, a Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs patrol car came by and stopped them.  In the vehicle they had several guns and hand grenades, as well as automatic guns, Heckler und Koch MP-5K - in other words, the kinds of weapons that are off limits to civilians.  

Supposedly, one of the passengers drew a weapon, but Arkan stopped him and submitted to the patrol chief, Gojko Galijas, without resistence.  Galijas was famous for barely having escaped sentencing for murder while abusing a prisoner in the mid-seventies, but he managed to stay in the police (now he is a policeman somewhere in Backa).  The whole team was handed over to the investigating judge in Sisak, where they were interrogated.  At that point, for unknown reasons, Zagreb took over the whole case and a development that is difficult to explain occurs: Arkan and his friends - who are irrelevant for the rest of the story - are accused of having planned an armed revolt with the objective of threatening the Republic of Croatia, an act which was impossible to prove.  They were not charged for carrying prohibited weapons, with an automatic sentence of two years, so that it could later be seen what is to be done with them.  Arkan was already known for his threatening statements made against Croatia, with the entire case having taken significant dimensions; on the other hand, the witnesses for the charge of representing a threat to the Republic of Croatia were all people who were outside the reach of the Croatian courts: Mile Martic and his people.  In the Zagreb prison of Remetinec, a new modern prison, Arkan was privileged with a TV and other commodities during the investigation, right up to April of 1991.  In the meantime, Milosevic and Tudjman met two or three times.  On March 9, Grandpa Radmilo began lamenting the loss of Arkan in putting down the Red Star fans, while Milosevic arrived at the conclusion that "if we don't know how to work and to produce, at least we know how to fight."  At the end of April, the court sentenced the foursome, but released them on probation because the sentences were all under five years in length.  A private jet was sent from Belgrade to pick up Arkan and he returned from Zagreb a veritable hero, never to see that city again in the rest of his life.  Today, Josip Boljkovac, the former Croatian Minister of Internal Affairs, claims that Arkan's release was negotiated between Radmilo Bogdanovic and his Croatian counterpart at the time, Josip Manolic, and on the basis of the Milosevic-Trudjman talks; he even says that someone paid a million German marks for Arkan.  Manolic denies this, but it is believed both in Belgrade and Zagreb that a settlement was in question.  Later, Tudjman attacked Judge Vladimir Vinja because he stopped Arkan's incarceration, and Vinja was later replaced, just like Deputy Public Prosecutor Anto Nobilo, who represented the state; both of them are working as lawyers at this time.  Zoran Stevanovic who at the time sold trophy weapons to the Serbs in Knin at exorbitant prices, was killed on the stairs of Belgrade's Metropol Hotel in 1997; the perpetrator was not discovered.

At the end of July 1991, the Serbian Volunteer Guard appeared in the region of Southern Slavonia, around the town of Tenja and in it.  This unit, just like other similar units, was incorrectly called "a paramilitary unit", because according to the SFRY Law on Federal Defense, and according to the Supreme Headquarters instructions dating to July of 1991, everyone who takes up arms in defense of Yugoslavia will be considered a member of the armed forces of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with all obligations and rights.  Soon after, frightful tales began circulation around Slavonija, Baranj and Western Srem about "Arkan's Tigers," which was spurred on by Milosevic's state media campaign.  Looked at from a purely military perspective, Arkan's forces were above all used as psychological weapons: before them went their frightening and already earned reputation of murderers and looters; no one likes to wait for such guest in their village.  

>From one week to the next, fresh news arrived about systematic and industrial looting of Slavonian villages, about sorting of looted goods according to use, about trucks which followed the unit, loading up the "war spoils" immediately and heading back to Belgrade.  Soldiers who stood guard at the control bridge over the Danube River remember how one night Arkan's convoy passed through the checkpoint, not paying attention to instructions to stop; one of the policemen opened fire on the trucks and a trace of wine was left behind them...  The wine looted at that time from the rich cellars of Slavonia and Baranj were being drunk in the better restaurants in Belgrade, while video- recorders, televisions and various appliances were being sold in Belgrade's open markets; and cars are not even worth mentioning.  It seemed that Milosevic's promise "if we don't know how to work..." came true for some people.  Arkan's baby face beamed from covers of newspapers and magazines.  Today, Arkan's friends claim that around "ten thousand people" passed through the Serbian Volunteer Guard; it is more likely that the Guard's insignia and flags were shown wherever an impression needed to be made and where the civilian population wasw ment to be frightened.  Expert sources estimate that Arkan never had more than several hundred men under his command, nor did he ever need more than that.  As far as command and control are concerned, he was on a direct line with the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs military communications.  The deal was simple - tit for tat: the right to loot was given to all those who engaged in battle.  Arkan kept an iron fist over all of his men; no other method was possible with those kinds of individuals, when one considers it...

After a brief vacation at the beginning of 1992, Arkan's nucleus of the SDG went in March to their starting position in Sabac.  The was in Bosnia was on the horizon.  A patrol which came to intervene was shown a document with the signature of General Andrija Biorcevic, Commander of the Novi Sad Corps, in which it is stated that Arkan's Guard is in fact a reconnaissance unit within that Corps.  Arkan did not stay for long in Bosnia, but he left a deep impression.  First in Zvornki, then in Bijeljine and Brcko.  In all those places the modus operandi was the same: terror with a convincing example, driving out the non-Serbian population, looting, securing the taking over of power for the local SDS, and then going on.  

During his operations in Bosnia, Arkan's people devoted special attention to post offices, banks, community centers and police stations.  There were systematic collections of application forms, personal i.d.'s, drivers licences, weapons' licences, passports, police i.d.'s, bank books, etc. - all blank and with accompanying seals.  In Bijeljine, Arkan carried out one of his favorite public relations shows, kissing Biljana Plavsic, Ratko Mladic and Fikret Abdic, and playing the big hearted protector of the weak and the knight- warrior, while his people were killing the Muslim population around the corner.  Beijeljine was taken practically without resistance.  In Brcko it was same, if not worse, judging by the stories told by survivors and eyewitnesses.

Soon after Arkan returned to the Erdut with his people, moving into the wine cellar of the old castle.  They stayed there until 1995 as special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska Krajina, mostly dealing in goods in shortage (mostly in crude oil), and in braking the UN sanctions against FR Yugoslavia.  During the 1993 January offensive against the Croatian Army, SDG appeared in Northern Dalmatia, but some sources claim that there was little use in this: they mostly served to institute discipline and to abuse the local soldiers from the Serbian Army of Krajina.  One of the locals in Krajina cynically observed that there was nothing more to steel in Medak and Lika...
In the meantime, Arkan decided to try out his luck on the Serbian political stage.  As an independent candidate for a citizens' group he became a member of the Serbian Parliament in 1992 and takes a very constructive role there in support of the SPS, without rocking the boat.  For the December 1993 election, Arkan quickly put together the Serbian Unity Party and launched a spectacular election campaign, mostly slinging mud at the Radicals and at Seselj.  During the campaign, Arkan is supported by his future wife, Ceca Velickovic, and an impressive team of turbo-folk stars; his campaign meetings resounded withe the sultry sounds of turbo-folk music, with millions of German marks in donation money (procured by "offers that could not be refused") coming in, but all of that was of no use - the Serbian Unity Party (SSJ) did not manage to win even a single seat in the Serbian Parliament.  The SSJ joined a sleuth of non-existent political parties and organizations which are only used by the regime for political convenience.
After this Arkan turned to other ventures.  After the Dayton Agreement, he disbanded his Serbian Volunteer Guard and became a civilian, even though he occasionally drove around in terrain vehicles with police licence plates and blue lights.  He added two stories to his house in Ljutice Bogdana Street, "just to peeve Vojislav Seselj," as he put it; the house is one of the ugliest and best guarded houses in the whole of Belgrade; no one is allowed to take out a camera, even within shooting range.  As Kosovo began to slowly simmer, Arkan infiltrated it as far back as 1993: he opened up bakeries there and his people filled up the Hotel Grand and collected rackets from local markets.  The "Commander" gave patriotic statements, during election campaigns he took photos with Albanians and took over Football Club Pristina, which he immediately placed in the Yugoslav Premier League.  As the armed revolt in Kosovo escalated, Arkan slowly began withdrawing his investments and people from there.  Despite certain stories and patriotic pledges, neither Arkan nor his unit took part in the war in Kosovo (except for individuals who are civilian policemen and took part in the fighting).

He married Ceca Velickovic in spectacular style: that was the wedding of the century in Belgrade.  During the wedding he changed his costume several times, the most tasteless of which was the WW I uniform of Serbian Duke, with a saber and all - his favorite advertising stunt.  There was a lot of shooting bullets to the sky, eating and drinking, and everyone who considers themselves something in Belgrade showed up at the wedding.  It was not wise for any newfangled "businessman" to show up without a worthy present if he had been invited to the wedding.  In this way, Arkan finally ascended to a position in society and established himself in the newfangled town of Belgrade which had been engineered according to the aesthetic of Pink Television (a popular television station that plays folk music).  

He forged his ties in the entertainment industry in good time: during 1993, his people were very convincing in persuading pirated cassette peddlers that they should give up their trade.  He exported the best oak wood from Slavonija in partnership with a member of the Yugoslav Left Party; until he moved out of Erdut, he had amassed a veritable fortune from dealing in fuels, opening up gasoline stations left and right, but he also did not leave the smuggled cigarette market unexplored.

He always had a knack for goods which are in short supply: whatever there was a lack in, Arkan would supply it.  He did not care for the border patrols or the police, nor did they care for him.  He was made very glad by inflation because he had his own foreign currency exchange dealers on the streets.  The ruin of pyramidal savings did not affect him.  On the contrary: he withdrew 350,000 German marks from the Dafiment Bank, one of the most famous banks of its kind.  At the same time, the man who was killed alongside him, Milenko Mandic, worked as security in that same Dafiment Bank and was one of those who could make withdrawals for you, under certain conditions, of course.  Arkan also took over several media houses: radio Pinguin and Palma Plus Television in Jagodina, where his official SSJ party headquarters are located.  Following the unsolved assassination of Radojica Nikcevic, an interesting businessman, Arkan's friend and partner, Giovanni di Steffano took over Nikcevic's enterprises (Di Steffano is presently in prison in Rome and awaiting extradition to Great Britain).  Neither was he short in real estate: some of the best business locations in the center of Belgrade are under Zeljko Raznatovic's name, or the name of his front-men.

Time passed, sanctions were oppressive, with the markets narrowing: small pond with many crocodiles...  It is being said that recently Arkan became interested in taking over the monopoly on importing liquid fuels; there are stories of small- timers being met at the border and "getting offers they can't refuse": serious looking people show up, ask how much the cistern was paid for, take out the money and tell the man to leave.  The problem, according to such stories, is that in this way Arkan stepped on the feet of other serious people, because the gasoline retail business is exceptionally lucrative.  Names that cannot be printed are being mentioned, as well as political parties which are consolidating their business ventures with lightening speed in recent months, exploiting the present situation.

Neither was the entertainment pond much different: it is being said that Grand Productions, a company owned by folk singer Lepa Brena and tennis player Slobodan Zivojinovic, was under pressure from racketeers and hired a certain "business man" from Surcin, a certain Sijan, in order to protect it.  Sijan was killed several months ago, while the company's studio was burnt to the ground.  It is being said around town that the otherwise dangerous Surcin mafia was very peeved at Arkan and that it suspected him of Arkan's murder.  In any case, the Surcin interpretation surfaced very quickly following Arkan's assassination: supposedly one of the assassins or his assistant was wounded in the shooting and is lying unconscious in Belgrade's Emergency Clinic where his buddies brought him, and is supposedly a member of this gang, his name being "Lemon."  In Surcin it is not believed that Lemon has anything to do with this, cause that is simply not plausible: no one would get mixed up with Arkan over some entertainment business venture, even if Lepa Brena is involved.  

The whole matter has been complicated by news of another wounded man all the way in Loznica, who is supposed to have taken part in the shooting, a certain Dusan Gavric, who is said to have been a member of Arkans Serbian Volunteer Guard.

As far as the political context is concerned, on July 25, 1999, the American cable network MSNBC reported that a Belgian lawyer, Pierre Chaume, contacted the prosecutors office in Bruxelles with Arkan's supposed offer to hand himself over.  At that time it was already announced that the Hague Tribunal had issued a warrant for the arrest of Zeljko Raznatovic.  It could be said that Arkan was playing on the Belgian warrant for lesser crimes, and that perhaps he wanted to make a deal with the Hague.  No direct contact was made between the parties for reasons that appear unclear: supposedly the Belgians did not manage to make timely contact with the Hague, that the Hague warrant was in English and was not valid in Belgium, that the Interpol had not sent its warrant for Arkan's arrest to Belgium, etc., etc.  The whole matter settled, but it was still publicized somewhat, and hence probably the stories about Arkan's offer to the Hague to negotiate immunity or a lesser sentence in exchange for information which might be of interest to the Tribunal.

The other element of the political context within which Arkan lost his life is slightly broader: the deceased managed to organize a business- paramilitary, disciplined and efficient system; he was admired for charisma among his men, and was feared by others; he was a political realist and with virtual certainty, his gangster's sense told him that the present situation will not lead to any good.  His ties with the police, the army, the underground, the duty men and the ruling echelons were more than good.  Those who think that Serbia has been a candidate for the Black Hand for sometime always mention Arkan at the top of the list precisely for those reasons.  There were many speculations on whether Arkan had or hadn't become powerful enough to become uncontrollable, especially now that the State Security Service no longer numbered Radovan Stojcic Badza (killed), Jovica Stanisic (replaced) and Franko Simatovic (marginalized), and at a time when new leadership is being put in place in the most sensitive areas.

The fact that nothing is clear with the assassination of Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan can be seen from the reactions by the authorities.  None of the ruling parties - SPS, SRS and JUL - offered to comment on the case.  Zivko Soklovacki of JUL was surprised into making a comment and nervously repeated three times that he is "not interested in this."  RTS reported the official statement issued by the investigating judge, with not further elaboration.  That is why the Politika daily, admittedly with a little delay, embarked on various speculations based on their special sources.

Every daily newspaper has its own version of the event; suddenly wounded accomplices and witnesses are showing up; the police is keeping wisely silent as in every assassination of this sort.  The overall impression is that controlled release of information, of theories and speculations concernign this assassination is serving to create a smoke screen that is intended to create the impression that this is an insignificant showdown between various criminal types in the underworld.  It is interesting that the usual, lengthy death notices, a gesture of respect in the etiquette of Belgrade's gangsters, appeared with a little delay; it is as if there was a little waiting to see what is up and to see whether it is worth sticking ones head up.  The first, shy death notices appeared on Monday (it was not possible to place any earlier), in order for hectares of death notices to have showed up in the Politika daily.  The commemoration and the funeral were moved up by 24 hours, as if people were not sure whether they would show up or not.  The Serbian Unity Party was so surprised that no one could say anything to journalists who contacted them; it is as if the Party does not exist, except for its address in Jagodina.
Former Interior Minister Radmilo Bogdanovic had an interesting comment: something to the effect that there are the courts and there are laws in this country and that it is unseemly for people to be killed off in this way.  He left the impression of a man who is fed up with all this, and he should be believed: admittedly, he is an old school policemen from the times when right was differentiated from wrong.

The regime needed four days in order to decide what to say: on Wednesday Goran Matic stated that this is not a case of state terrorism, but that "Arkan was killed by the Montenegrin mafia which is trying to take hold of Belgrade," and that in any case he was a common criminal and that there is nothing surprising in his assassination.  In this way, JUL used the late Arkan to scratch its biggest itch: the opposition and Montenegro.  Zoran Djindjic also did a bit of scratching, but for The New York Times: he stated that his friend Arkan had told him that Mira Markovic had "offered him money" only to disperse the protesters using his Serbian Volunteer Guard during the 1996-1997 winter protests, and that he supposedly refused to accept hard cash.  Beside that, Djindjic claims that the late Arkan warned him that he was being targeted, which is why he fled to Montenegro during the bombing.

On Wednesday, the Serbian Unity Party held a commemoration for Zeljko Raznatovic at the Syndicates Hall (Dom Sindikata).  This commemoration ended with a scandal.  At the end of the speech made by Bozidar Pelevic, President of the Serbian Unity Party and the Yugoslav Kick Box Association and "General in the Serbian Volunteer Guard", as he was announced, while he made a dramatic pause, a man's voice was heard from the end of the auditorium: "May I add something?"  Then a short man stood up, presenting himself as Zoran Radovic, "brother to Amfilohije Radovic and brother-in-law to Vojislav Kostunica.  Radovic only just began his story about how as a doctor and member of the "Serbian Unity Party, since 1994", he had saved the life of Arkan's cousin, Zoran Raznatovic, when Svetlana Raznatovic got up and headed toward the exit.  The confused security nearly ran after her, even though it was announced that another three speakers will speak after Pelevic, among them Raznatovic's oldest son Mihajlo.
The Syndicates Hall auditorium was jammed, including the balconies.  The audience included Momir Vojvodic, Federal MP for the Montenegrin Serbian People's Party, Vuk Bojovic, Director of the Belgrade Zoo, folk music stars Zoran Kalezic and Aleksandar Ilic, ten invalids, some of who were wearing uniforms with Serbian Volunteer Guard emblems, and about hundred youths wearing Obilic Football Club jerseys.  The commemoration officially began with the entrance by Svetlana Raznatovic, Arkan's widow, dressed in a long, black coat.  At that moment everyone present stood up.  Tens of cameramen and photojournalists immediately huddled around Ceca and her security, as she took a seat in the front row.  The majority of the photographers climbed onto the stage and filmed the widow, showing no desire to stop.  They only dispersed when the speaker called on them "to show a little respect," and the security firmly pushed them off the stage and to the corners of the auditorium.  Then Bozidar Pelevic stepped up to the stage who crossed himself three times before a large photograph of Zeljko Raznatovic and kissed his picture in the cheeks three times.  He spoke about three aspects of the personality of the late Raznatovic: as warrior ("liberating" Bijeljine and Zvornik, "rescuing" Banjaluka together with general Momir Talic...), sportsman (the Red Star "Heores", Football Club Pristina, Football Club Obilic, kick box) and humanitarian ("Third Child" Fund, securing 36 apartments and 40 funerals for 51 families of killed members of the the Serbian Volunteer Guard and another 393 seriously wounded members of the same Guard).  Pelevic criticized journalists for never having written about the fact that Raznatovic graduated from the Faculty for Management and from a Football Training School.  Just as Pelevic embarked on a story about Raznatovic being the "kindest father, husband and son he ever knew, a man who would stop meetings of the Serbian Unity Party because he needed to go home to bathe his children," he was interrupted by Radovic'
One of the interesting questions in the post-Arkan period will be the divvying up of his estate.  His estate will not only include the late Arkan's property, but a list of his investments, business interests, investments and current deals.  Various complications are expected on this score, with the joining together of the various facets of Arkans financial kingdom.

Certainly, a gaping hole will remain behind Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan in the police-military-state, business, crime, entertainment and sport establishments in Serbia.  The filling up of these holes could take a while, and could be both dramatic and painful.

And the mother of all questions - who killed Arkan - is something to which there is only one sure answer for now: people who are just like him.