But numbers at Wednesday's demonstration were sharply down, with around 1,000 people attending.

The previous two evenings saw thousands out on the streets, some clashing with police.

The latest rally was sponsored by the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) of Vuk Draskovic, who has alternated between supporting and opposing the government in recent months.

BBC's Brian Hanrahan in Belgrade: "Word about these protests is spreading rapidly"

Bojana Ristic, an SPO deputy in the Serbian Parliament, was jeered when she told the crowd that her party had taken up the calls for political change.

The crowd called for the resignation of President Milosevic and Zivojin Stefanovic, the local district governor.

The protesters also demanded the release of Ivan Novkovic, the local TV technician who became an instant celebrity when he interrupted the station's output to call for Monday's rally, which attracted around 20,000.

Mr Novkovic was arrested on Tuesday and sentenced to 30 days in prison.

Another man, Vjaceslav Nesic, who had been detained for helping to organise protests in Leskovac, has been released.

In the city of Nis, anti-government campaigners collected 3,000 signatures on a petition demanding that President Milosevic resign.

More than 100,000 people have signed the anti-Milosevic petition in various parts of Serbia since the campaign started a week ago.

The mayor, Zoran Zivkovic, of the opposition Democratic Party, said the campaign would continue despite police threats to arrest activists.

Opposition leader

The pressure on Mr Milosevic is likely to be maintained on Thursday when Zoran Djindjic, head of the opposition coalition, Alliance for Change, visits Kosovo to meet local Serb and Orthodox church leaders and international officials.

Zoran Djindjic will go to Kosovo on Thursday

The aim of the talks is "to stem the flow of Serbs from Kosovo and to assure their return to their homes," the group said in a statement.

The delegates will also meet Momcilo Trajkovic, head of the Serb resistance movement in Kosovo, and a strong opponent of Mr Milosevic.

Mr Djindjic also plans to meet the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation, Knut Vollebaek, who is also Norwegian Foreign Minister.

The BBC's Michael Voss reports from Mitrovica's hospital, which could become a model for inter-ethnic co-operation

Mr Vollebaek was on Wednesday refused a visa to visit Montenegro because his planned trip did not include a stop in Belgrade. He said the move showed Yugoslavia had chosen to isolate itself from the West.

He met the Montenegrin foreign minister in neighbouring Macedonia instead.

Kosovo clash

In Kosovo, about 3,000 Kosovo Albanians have protested against the deployment of Russian troops in the southwestern town of Orahovac.

Russian troops: Expected to reassure Serbs

Many Kosovo Albanians accuse Russians of taking part in massacres carried out by Serbian forces during Nato's air campaign.

But the 2,000 Serbs in the town hope the Russians will give them better protection.

The advance deployment of Russian paratroops in Pristina has been completed, the Russian news agency Interfax has reported.

It follows Moscow's agreement with Nato on the terms of their deployment. Russians will serve in the German, French and American sectors, with their own chain of command but under overall Nato control.

(Click here to see a map of the situation in Kosovo)

The continuing tensions between Serbs and Albanians were highlighted by clashes in Mitrovica.

French peacekeepers were forced to close the newly reopened bridge in the town when some 200 Serbs attacked a crowd of around 5,000 ethnic Albanians marching across it into the predominantly Serb neighbourhood.

• Zoran Djindjic: Serbian pragmatist
• Serb media quiet on protests
• Talking up the war?
• BBC sets up news service for refugees
• 'CIA ordered to topple Milosevic': US report

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