Mirjana Markovic, widow of Serbia's late strongman Milosevic, dies aged 76

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Mirjana Markovic, the widow of Serbia's late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who played an instrumental role in politics, has died aged 76, state-run RTS TV reported.

The TV station, in a report late on Sunday, said she died in hospital in Moscow. Markovic had lived in exile in Russia since 2003 after fleeing Serbia to evade prosecution over abuse of office charges.

Markovic was a sociology professor at Belgrade University and headed the now-defunct neo-communist Yugoslav Left party. She played an instrumental role in the policies of Milosevic during the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Janet Lawrence)