| Gunned in a hotel lobby almost 7 years ago, the Serbian warlord known as Arkan lives on in the public mind -- in some cases, literally. "I'm sure he's still alive" said Edna, a well-educated 23-year-old journalism instructor. "I just know it". She theorized that Arkan's killing was faked by Western intelligence agencies, which then spirited him away to testify against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the United Nations war-crimes tribunal. She is not alone. A considerable number of people here said they believe the killing was an elaborate fraud. Arkan, they noted, was an escape artist of Houdini-like abilities who broke out of several European jails during his life of crime. A stunt like this would be just up his alley. "I wouldn't put it past him" said Zoran, a Belgrade postcard seller who, like many of those who talked about the Arkan case, declined to give his full name. Even among the majority who accept that Arkan is really gone, the warlord remains a larger-than-death figure, much talked about and still widely admired. Newspapers are full of articles about his eventful life as an outlaw, militia leader, football-club owner and notorious womanizer who fathered nine children by four different women. Belgrade's Evening News is publishing his life story in daily installments with headlines such as: "He lived like a lion". Between 100 and 200 people a day visit his grave in Belgrade's New Cemetery, the favourite resting place of the city's elite. |
