Milan Jelic, president of Bosnia's Serb Republic has died. He was 51.

[Ghost in the Machine]

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Milan Jelic, president of Bosnia's Serb Republic has died. He was 51.

Jelic suffered a heart attack Sunday in his hometown, Modrica, his brother Slavko Jelic said.

Jelic was elected president of the Serb Republic - one of the two mini-states that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina - in October 2006.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial position, with power lying in the hands of the government and its prime minister.

Born in 1956 in north Bosnia, Jelic earned a doctorate in economics and was the head of the Modrica oil refinery for 13 years.

He was a member of the Serb Democratic Party founded by wartime Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic, who is now a war crimes fugitive. But in 1998, he switched to the Independent Social Democrats, currently the most influential Bosnian Serb party.

Before he was elected president, he served as minister for economy, energy and development in the Bosnian Serb government. He also was president of Bosnia's Soccer Federation.

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