The candidate from Serbia's governing Socialist Party, Milan Milutinovic, has been sworn in as the country's new president.

Mr Milutinovic, a close ally of the Yugoslav federal president, Slobodan Milosevic, defeated the extreme Serb nationalist candidate Vojislav Seselj in a fourth round of voting; three previous elections were invalidated because the turnout failed to reach the required minimum.

Mr Seselj's Radical Party deputies walked out of parliament as Mr Milutinovic took the oath of office in protest at what they consider his fraudulent electoral victory.Mr Milutinovic urged all sides to to overcome ethnic and religions differences in order to win over what he called the destructive forces in the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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