[ALBSA-Info] Yugoslavia's popular revolt in full flood

[Gazhebo at aol.com]

Yugoslavia's popular revolt in full flood

By Philippa Fletcher

BELGRADE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav opposition was in charge of the 
capital's streets on Friday after a popular and almost bloodless revolution 
appeared to have swept President Slobodan Milosevic and his henchmen from 
power. 

Demonstrators stormed the federal parliament as well as the building housing 
the executive of Milosevic's Socialist Party. Even his propaganda machine 
switched sides, many of his police joined the protesters and the army stayed 
in its barracks. 

After initial resistance from police, who fired tear gas, crowds burst into 
parliament, setting fire to some parts and ransacking filing cabinets. They 
also took over Serbian state television. 

There was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Milosevic, but the 
independent Beta news agency reported late on Thursday that three aircraft 
had taken off from a military airport near Belgrade, fuelling speculation 
that some of the leadership might be leaving. 

Serb opposition party leader Zoran Djindjic said on Friday that Milosevic had 
retreated with his henchmen to the east Serbian town of Bor, close to the 
Romanian and Bulgarian borders, and warned he might be preparing to try to 
regain power. 

``He is now in Bor surrounded by his closest associates,'' Djindjic said on 
Serbian state television, ``and I suppose that he may be preparing a coup. I 
heard between 3 and 5 a.m. (0100 and 0300 GMT). That would be very bad if he 
now pushed people further into conflicts.'' 

ARMY NOT TO INTERFERE-AGENCY 

Beta said the Yugoslav army would not interfere in protests by hundreds of 
thousands of demonstrators. 

``The Yugoslav army will in no way interfere in street events,'' Beta quoted 
a source close to the military leadership as saying. 

When asked whether the opposition was in contact with the armed forces, a 
former general turned opposition leader, Vuk Obradovic, told Reuters: 
``Negotiations are constantly underway.'' 

Asked whether there were any results, he said: 

``Can't you see that the army is silent and acting properly?'' The key thing 
at this moment is that people remain out in the streets because we haven't 
passed the most critical moment.'' 

He said he meant between 3 and 5 a.m., the period also cited by Djindic. 

Serbian television, an important weapon in Milosevic's armoury after the 
authorities banned some independent media, went blank for several hours and 
came out with a written message saying: ``This is the new Radio Television 
Serbia broadcasting.'' 

The state news agency Tanjug, long a mouthpiece of Milosevic and his leftist 
coalition, referred to opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica as ``elected 
president of Yugoslavia'' in a report signed ``Journalists of Liberated 
Tanjug.'' 

In another sign of the end of Milosevic's iron-fisted, 13-year-long rule, 
police withdrew on Thursday from a coal mine where workers were on strike for 
the sixth day, putting them in the forefront of the country-wide campaign to 
oust Milosevic. 

Opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica, the centre of the protest after he 
beat Milosevic in presidential elections which were then annulled by the 
authorities, told the protesters on Thursday they had defeated Milosevic. 

``Good evening, liberated Serbia,'' he told the cheering crowd. 

``Serbia hit the road of democracy and where there is democracy there is no 
place for Slobodan Milosevic,'' he said. 

Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) blasted the opposition for 
causing unrest and violence and vowed to fight back with ``all means to 
secure peaceful life.'' 

Inside the parliament fires burned in one wing of the building, sending up 
dense black smoke to cheers from the flag-waving crowd outside. 

``Victory! Victory!'' shouted people in the crowd. ``Slobodan, Slobodan, save 
Serbia and kill yourself.'' 

ARMY TROOPS JOIN PROTESTERS, TV SHOWS 

Foreign TV pictures also showed that a number of soldiers in uniform joined 
the crowd in the parliament, where they were embraced by the protesters. 

Witnesses said some of the 10,000-strong crowd threw stones at the police, 
but opposition leader Velja Ilic appealed for calm. ``I beg you not to hurl 
stones at the police...they are ours, they have to be with their people,'' he 
told the crowd. 

Beta reported that one girl died when she was run over by an excavator during 
the demonstrations and three other people were injured by firearms in 
Belgrade. It was not immediately clear who was responsible. 

About 100 people sustained various other injuries. 

The rally was the climax of a campaign that began on Monday and has been 
gathering strength since, with civil servants, shopkeepers and factory 
workers staging strikes and rallies. Crucial to the campaign were coal miners 
whose strike has forced Serbia's largest electricity generator to order power 
cuts. 

The opposition, backed by Western governments, says official election results 
showing Kostunica had failed to gain an overall majority of the votes were 
fraudulent, and demanded that Milosevic accept defeat and resign. 

The Constitutional Court added fuel to the crisis on Thursday by annulling 
the election and ordering a re-run, a ruling that would leave Milosevic in 
power for months to come. 

Court President Milutin Srdic said a new election should be held before the 
president's mandate expires, giving Milosevic, known for his skill at wearing 
down and dividing political opponents, until next July to organise a fresh 
poll. 

On Thursday U.S. President Bill Clinton said he hoped ``the hour is near'' 
when Yugoslavia would be free of Milosevic. 

``In Serbia, where a decade ago the forces of destruction began their march 
across the Balkans, now the march of freedom is gaining new ground,'' Clinton 
said at Princeton University. 

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the message from Yugoslavs to 
Milosevic was clear: ``Go. Go now. Go before any more lives are lost, before 
there is any more destruction.'' 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the opposing forces in Yugoslavia 
to avoid violence and said he hoped Yugoslavia's international isolation 
could be ended.