At about 5:15 pm on 15 January 2000, Zeljko Raznatović, also known as Arkan, was shot dead by a gunman in the hallway of the Belgrade Intercontinental Hotel. The still unknown assassin fired 20 shots, shooting Arkan in the eye and fatally wounding two others.?

Milenko Mandić, known as Manda and one of Arkan's bodyguards, was killed instantly.

Dragan Garić, believed to have been a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was shot in the spine and died along with Arkan in a hospital emergency room.

According to some sources, the assassin was wounded as well.

Arkan had apparently been sitting with Mandić and Garić since 3 pm that day, and he was accompanied by his wife Ceca Raznatović (a famous pop star) and her sister.

The reason for the attack is still unknown, however, certain opposition leaders and political analysts, both within Yugoslav and elsewhere, are speculating that Arkan was simply a man who knew too much.

Zeljko Raznatović aka Arkan was born on 17 April 1952 in Brežice, Slovenia. From an early age, he began to earn his reputation as a criminal, taking part in burglaries and armed robberies. Arkan was arrested in Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Germany, but he always managed to evade the authorities in the end.

Live by the sword

He was founder and president of the Party of Serbian Unity, and volunteers from his party, who later became known as the "Tigers," took part in the civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia under his command. In 1992, Arkan was elected to the Yugoslav Parliament, where he served until 1993, when Parliament was dissolved.

Croatian Interpol charged him with genocide of Croats and Bosnians. Louise Arbor, the prosecutor for The Hague International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, brought charges against Arkan for crimes against humanity which he allegedly committed during the the Yugoslav wars.

Arkan was married several times; the last marriage was with the popular neo-folk singer, Ceca Raznatović, with whom he has a son and daughter. He has seven other children from the previous marriages.

Vana Suša, 15 January 2000