Kosovo protest remains peaceful

The women want the release of their sons and fathers

A demonstration in Kosovo against the arrest of former leaders of the KLA ethnic-Albanian guerrilla group has ended peacefully.

Ukrainian police were involved in Thursday's clashes

Several hundred demonstrators, most of them women, marched through the streets of the regional capital, Pristina, and laid flowers in memory of those killed during the conflict with Serbian and Yugoslav forces which ended in 1999.

The protest was much smaller than UN officials had expected.

They had put riot police on stand-by after clashes on Thursday in the town of Decani, where UN police used tear gas and baton-charges to disperse demonstrators.

UN cars were cleared from the streets, and all mission personnel were advised to keep out of the city centre.

Violence condemned

There have been protests in Kosovo every day since Sunday's arrest of a senior former KLA commander, Rustrem Mustafa.

In the Decani clashes, 11 UN police and 45 demonstrators were hurt and 23 people were arrested.

The clashes came as several hundred protestors pelted peacekeepers with stones, and Spanish and Ukrainian UN police intervened to remove the crowd from the main road.

On Friday Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, deplored the use of violence by some protesters .

"We condemn the wounding of members of the police and of K-For, who are here for the security and defence of Kosovo," he said.