Student activists held in Yugoslavia

Kostunica has been attracting huge crowds to his rallies

Police have arrested more opposition supporters in the run-up to Yugoslav presidential and parliamentary elections next Sunday.

We will cast more votes than they can steal

Opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica

Three members of the student-backed Otpor organisation were detained in Belgrade for putting up posters calling for the removal of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Otpor also said that two of its campaigners had been arrested in the northern town of Subotica and later released.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Novi Sad, at least 20,000 people turned out at a rally for the leading opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica.

Warning of rigging

Mr Kotunica, who has been touring the country in advance of the vote, warned his supporters that Mr Milosevic would use "liars and thugs" to rig the elections.

President Milosevic on a pre-election factory tour

"They have stolen years of our lives," he said, "and now they are preparing the theft of the century.

"But we will cast more votes than they can steal."

Recent opinion polls suggest that Mr Kostunica, described by correspondents as a respected and moderate nationalist, enjoys almost twice the support of Mr Milosevic.

Mending fences

He has bitterly criticised Nato's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, but said that if elected he would try to rebuild ties with the West.

At another rally on Saturday, Mr Kostunica said that he was not calling for revolution but democracy and the chance for people to live normal, peaceful lives.

But the BBC's correspondent in Belgrade, Jacky Rowland, says there is little sign of that at the moment, with many people expecting a backlash from the authorities if Mr Kostunica does well in the elections.

In an apparent effort to strengthen his campaign, President Milosevic, who rarely makes public appearances, has visited two show-case reconstruction sites in the past few days.