Speaking to reporters at Belgrade airport, Zyuganov said that Slobodan Milosevic's wife Mirjana Markovic would most probably not come to Serbia to attend her husband's funeral because the Serbian government had not provided "firm enough guarantees for her arrival".
"I am in constant contact with the (Milosevic) family," Zyuganov said. "It is enough for Marko to have lost a father. He need not also lose a mother," he added, alluding to the possibility of Markovic being arrested in Belgrade where she is wanted on charges of abuse of power.
Earlier on Friday, Belgrade Radio B92 said that Mirjana Markovic and her son Marko Milosevic would arrive in Belgrade from Moscow on a private Russian flight. Their arrival was also announced by the vice-president of Milosevic's Socialist Party, Milorad Vucelic, who has been authorised by the family to arrange the funeral.
Milosevic's brother Borislav, former Yugoslav ambassador to Russia, will not be attending the funeral either. Earlier this week he underwent heart surgery in Moscow.
Slobodan Milosevic is due to be buried in his hometown of Pozarevac, about 80 kilometres southeast of Belgrade, on Saturday.