Milosevic blood showed he took wrong drugs - ANP

THE HAGUE, Mar 13 (Reuters) Tests on Slobodan Milosevic's blood taken before he was found dead on Saturday showed traces of a medicine that negated the effect of high blood pressure drugs, Dutch news agency ANP reported today.

ANP said the UN war crimes tribunal asked Groningen University toxicologist Donald Uges to conduct the tests at the end of last year to find out why Milosevic's blood pressure remained so high despite the drugs he was prescribed.

Uges told ANP he had found traces of rifampicin - a drug against leprosy and tuberculosis - in his blood.

Groningen University was not immediately available to comment on the ANP report.

Milosevic's lawyer said on Sunday the former president had written to Russia asking for help just a day before his death, saying he had been given the wrong drugs in an attempt to silence him.

The 64-year-old, who suffered from a heart condition and high blood pressure, was found dead in his cell today only months before a verdict was due in his trial on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the 1990s.

REUTERS SB PM1607