[ALBSA-Info] Serbs demand use of force against Albanians

[Iris Pilika]

Protests put pressure on Kostunica


December 14, 2000
Web posted at: 1348 GMT


DAVIDOVAC, Yugoslavia -- Thousands of Serbs have blocked roads around the 
Kosovo border, demanding the government uses force against ethnic Albanian 
rebels in the area.

Around 3,000 people closed routes in and out of the town of Bujanovac in 
protest at recent attacks in which rebels killed four Serb policemen and 
took control of several villages in the demilitarised border zone.

Ethnic Albanians make up the vast majority of the population in the province 
of Kosovo and the rebels are pressing to break away from Serbia, 
Yugoslavia's main republic.

Kosovo has been under international control since last year, and many ethnic 
Albanian residents back the call for independence for the province, together 
with the heavily ethnic Albanian Presevo Valley region in Serbia proper.

The attacks have triggered fears of renewed clashes in the area -- and 
sparked anger from Serbs, who make up much of Yugoslavia's population but 
are the minority in this region.

The protest, which has also shut down a railway line and roads that link 
Serbia with Macedonia and Greece, was set up by Serbs from Kosovo and local 
residents.

Kostunica 'in a bind'
Many said that the ousted president Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party had 
organised the action, trying to gain support ahead of December 23 
parliamentary elections in Serbia.

The ethnic Albanian attacks have left the new Yugoslav president Vojislav 
Kostunica in a tight spot, observers say, as he could lose support if he 
ignores the rebels, but could also anger the international community if his 
steps against the insurgents are seen as excessive.

Zoran Djindjic, a Kostunica ally who is expected to become the next Serb 
prime minister said: "With every additional day, the terrorists are gaining 
ground and digging in.

"We need strong action now because later it will be more difficult."

Kostunica, who heads a pro-democracy coalition, has been eager to distance 
himself from his predecessor's belligerent policies, which led to NATO's 
bombing campaign last year and the establishment of the joint U.N. and NATO 
administration in Kosovo.

On Wednesday, Kostunica appealed for an emergency U.N. Security Council 
meeting on the issue saying that the people of Yugoslavia need to know the 
international community would protect them.

Council members issued a statement saying they "condemned acts of violence 
by armed groups in southern Serbia" and reiterated their call for "immediate 
cessation of violence in this area."

An open meeting on the matter is scheduled for next week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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