Mr Slobodan Milosevic, former Yugoslav president, was yesterday handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal and flown by helicoptor to detention in The Hague, sealing the end of his grip on the Balkans.
Mr Milosevic has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for committing war crimes in Kosovo where Serbian forces carried out a policy of ethnic cleansing in the late 1990s.
The decision was taken a day ahead of an international donors' conference in Brussels, called to raise over $1.25 billion for the economic reconstruction of Yugoslavia.
The US had only agreed to attend on condition that Belgrade co-operated with the tribunal. Other countries insisted that financial support would be conditional on Serbia handing over one of the country's most controversial and ruthless politicians to the international court.
President Bush applauded the move as an important step that would ensure Mr Milosevic could finally be tried for his crimes.
"Milosevic, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, will finally be accountable for his acts," the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, said in a statement.
"I am extraordinarily delighted," the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder said. Britain's Prime Minister, Mr Blair, said it was good news.
Mr Milosevic was yesterday taken from a Belgrade prison where he had remained since March when he was arrested on charges of embezzlement and abuse of power. He was handed over to UN officials, but it was unclear when he would arrive in The Hague. His first public appearance before the court is expected next week.
The decision to extradite Mr Milosevic was made following a bitter dispute between the Yugoslav government and the constitutional court.
It could also usher in a power struggle between reformers grouped around the Serbian Prime Minister, Mr Zoran Djindjic, who want a break with the past, and supporters of Mr Vojislav Kostunica, the Yugoslav President, who favours adherence to the constitution.
Just before he was taken away, Mr Milosevic's lawyers believed they had won some time to keep him in Belgrade after the constitutional court had tried to freeze a government decree allowing Mr Milosevic's extradition to the tribunal.
The court decision was based on a 4-0 vote. Presiding Judge Milan Srdic submitted his resignation before the session.
The court had ordered all Yugoslav and Serbian state bodies to take no action on any extradition proceedings until it had decided the decree was constitutional. But immediately after the session, Mr Djindjic called an emergency session of the government.