Mikhail Kamynin, the Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers a Question from RIA Novosti Regarding Former FRY President Slobodan Milosevic's Letter to the Russian Foreign Minister

Unofficial translation from Russian

Question: Are reports true that on the eve of his death Slobodan Milosevic sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation?

Answer: Slobodan Milosevic's advisers on March 11 transmitted to the Embassy of Russia in the Netherlands his letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which we received in Moscow yesterday afternoon.

In this handwritten letter Slobodan Milosevic speaks of the inadequate treatment administered by doctors of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and again asks for the Russian Federation's support in obtaining permission to undergo a therapeutic course in a medical establishment in Moscow.

At this point a group of Russian doctors on request from Slobodan Milosevic's relatives, in particular his brother Borislav Milosevic, is ready to fly to The Hague to participate in the postmortem examination.

March 13, 2006