Josip Tito

The Serbian government said it will move the remains of Josip Broz Tito from a special memorial center to a Belgrade cemetery in a further downgrading of Yugoslavia's Communist ruler. Town Planning Minister Miodrag Janic told reporters that Tito's remains will be moved by the end of the year and the House of Flowers memorial center will be closed and listed as an "illegally built building." Tito's widow, Jovanka Broz, told a Belgrade newspaper that "this is the final act of a frenetic campaign."

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was so angry with Josip Broz Tito that his special services were planning to assassinate the Yugoslav leader. The plan was dropped in 1953 when Stalin died, according to a collection of Cold War archives compiled by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a U.S. think tank. Tito died in 1980.

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was so angry with Josip Broz Tito that his special services were planning to assassinate the Yugoslav leader. The plan was dropped in 1953 when Stalin died, according to a collection of Cold War archives compiled by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a U.S. think tank. Tito died in 1980.

Many dictators of communist regimes lived like kings. Nowadays, anyone can visit their villas, spas and hunting grounds. Josip Broz Tito, having had almost 40 years in power in the former Yugoslavia, was perhaps the most self-indulgent leader in Europe, with hundreds of establishments for his exclusive use. Among them were the Brijuni Islands in the Adriatic Sea, just off the Croatian peninsula of Istria. I grew up in Croatia under Tito's personality cult.

A week ago, Serbian intellectuals were saying that Slobodan Milosevic was the first Yugoslav politician in the last eight years to recognize that former strongman Josip Broz Tito is really dead. A slight revision was in order Thursday, in the aftermath of a turbulent week in Yugoslav Communist Party politics. And it came down to this: Tito might be dead, but the system he left behind is very much intact.

Slipped in between a blurb about the ancient art of mead-making and a mention of the 19th-Century schoolhouse in this humble village is the only reference in local tourist literature to the most famous figure ever to emerge from Croatia. "Josip Broz Tito's Birth House," a state-produced brochure dutifully reports toward the end of an exaggerated list of sights not to be missed on a visit to Kumrovec.

Many dictators of communist regimes lived like kings. Nowadays, anyone can visit their villas, spas and hunting grounds. Josip Broz Tito, having had almost 40 years in power in the former Yugoslavia, was perhaps the most self-indulgent leader in Europe, with hundreds of establishments for his exclusive use. Among them were the Brijuni Islands in the Adriatic Sea, just off the Croatian peninsula of Istria. I grew up in Croatia under Tito's personality cult.

Seventeen photographs of Marshal Tito, founder of Communist Yugoslavia, were damaged "with a sharp object" by unknown vandals during an exhibition in the province of Kosovo, the state-run Tanjug news agency reported Thursday.

At night, when the lawns are empty and the lamps along the walking paths are the only source of light, Topcider Park on the outskirts of Belgrade is a perfect meeting place for spies. It was here in 1992, as the former Yugoslavia was erupting in ethnic violence, that a wary CIA agent made his way toward the park's gazebo and shook hands with a Serbian intelligence officer. Jovica Stanisic had a cold gaze and a sinister reputation.

Emperor Hirohito, a man once despised by much of the world as the symbol of ruthless Japanese military aggression, was honored by the international community today as kings, presidents and other representatives of 163 countries attended his elaborate state funeral.

Slipped in between a blurb about the ancient art of mead-making and a mention of the 19th-Century schoolhouse in this humble village is the only reference in local tourist literature to the most famous figure ever to emerge from Croatia. "Josip Broz Tito's Birth House," a state-produced brochure dutifully reports toward the end of an exaggerated list of sights not to be missed on a visit to Kumrovec.

The Serbian government said it will move the remains of Josip Broz Tito from a special memorial center to a Belgrade cemetery in a further downgrading of Yugoslavia's Communist ruler. Town Planning Minister Miodrag Janic told reporters that Tito's remains will be moved by the end of the year and the House of Flowers memorial center will be closed and listed as an "illegally built building." Tito's widow, Jovanka Broz, told a Belgrade newspaper that "this is the final act of a frenetic campaign."

A week ago, Serbian intellectuals were saying that Slobodan Milosevic was the first Yugoslav politician in the last eight years to recognize that former strongman Josip Broz Tito is really dead. A slight revision was in order Thursday, in the aftermath of a turbulent week in Yugoslav Communist Party politics. And it came down to this: Tito might be dead, but the system he left behind is very much intact.

Seventeen photographs of Marshal Tito, founder of Communist Yugoslavia, were damaged "with a sharp object" by unknown vandals during an exhibition in the province of Kosovo, the state-run Tanjug news agency reported Thursday.

Unidentified arsonists burned a large photograph of former President Josip Broz Tito in a secondary school in the southern province of Kosovo, the official news agency Tanjug said. Tanjug said last week that the burning, which it called a "hostile act," was being investigated.

About 5,000 striking factory workers demonstrated angrily Friday outside the Federal Assembly (Parliament) to protest pay cuts, shouting "We want bread!" and calling on the government to resign. The workers from the Zmaj tractor factory outside Belgrade marched through the streets waving huge red banners and pictures of the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. Onlookers cheered and clapped as workers accused the government of corruption and incompetence.