Serbian opposition keeps up protests

Some 5,000 people came to listen to opposition leaders

More protests have taken place in Serbia against the closure of media critical of the government, but attendance was lower than expected.

The rallies passed peacefully without the clashes with riot police which have marked previous evenings in Belgrade.

Only about 5,000 people attended the rally outside the city hall in Belgrade to hear the speeches of opposition leaders, Vuk Draskovic and Zoran Djindjic.

The opposition accuses the government of introducing a state of emergency

Twice that number took part in a rally in Serbia's second city, Nis, and people also took to the streets in nearly a dozen other towns.

The opposition has accused the government of introducing a undeclared state of emergency with their closure of opposition media and daily detention of opposition activists, especially those belonging to the student protest movement Otpor.

The authorities have replied that they are defending the constitutional order from what they term terrorist assaults.

Mr Draskovic has announced that he will visit Moscow in the near future to ask President Putin to put pressure on the Yugoslav Government.

Clashes

The current wave of protests began after the forced closure of opposition television and radio broadcasters earlier this week.

Over 150 people were injured in clashes

On Thursday, riot police fired tear gas and charged at more than 10,000 Belgrade demonstrators protesting against the closure of Studio B television station.

Hundreds of opposition supporters have been arrested, while the number of people injured in this week's clashes now exceeds 150.

Opposition leader Goran Svilanovic called the police intervention was "extremely brutal".

In the southern city of Nis several hundred protesters attacked 14 deputies from the ruling Socialist Party on Thursday, pelting them with sticks.

'Splits'

Analysts say a split may be developing within the ruling parties.

President Slobodan Milosevic and the Socialist Party are said to favour a calming of the situation while the other parties are understood to want the crackdown to intensify.

Mr Milosevic's wish to calm the situation is said to have split ruling parties

Meanwhile, independent Serbian journalists appealed to the European Union for urgent assistance.

At a meeting in Brussels, journalists told EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and foreign policy chief Javier Solana that it was "now or never".

"Without urgent material help we won't be able to survive," said Gordan Susa, head of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia.

Mr Patten said that the crackdown was a sign of the regime's weakness.

Serbian police seized control of four popular independent media outlets.