Kosovo Albanians flock to polls

An ethnic Albanian is one of the first to vote in Pristina

Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have flocked to the polls to take part in what the United Nations administration there says is the first free, democratic election in the province's history.

It's a step towards liberty, independence and democracy

Independence leader Ibrahim Rugova

They are choosing municipal councils, but many voters see the election as a move towards independence.

As he cast his vote, former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci said he was confident that the international community would soon recognise Kosovo's right to break from Yugoslavia.

The vote got off to a shaky start because of technical and administrative problems - some polling stations failed to open on time, and the electoral register appeared to be incomplete.

But there were no reports of disturbances.

Fierce battle

Many polling stations had crowds of people queuing outside before they opened.

Hashim Thaci: Kosovo will be independent soon

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which is running the poll, says some polling stations may stay open beyond the deadline of 7pm local time (1700 GMT) to allow all those who want to vote to do so.

The Serb minority in Kosovo is boycotting the election, but the United Nations plans to appoint Serbs to posts in municipalities with significant Serb communities.

The campaign has turned into a fierce battle between two main ethnic Albanian parties - the Democratic League of Kosovo, led by Ibrahim Rugova, and Mr Thaci's more militant Democratic Party of Kosovo.

The UN administration in Kosovo is braced for trouble if Mr Thaci's party loses local authorities it currently controls and refuses to hand them over.

Mr Rugova led passive resistance to Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic for a decade, and correspondents say his party is a clear favourite.

"This is a great day for Kosovo, we are holding our first free elections, in a free Kosovo, and it's a step towards liberty, independence and democracy," Mr Rugova said.

Optimism

Other voters were equally optimistic.

I hope that soon we will have general elections, to vote for the parliament, for the government

Hashim Thaci

"We are expecting what's best for us - independence for Kosovo," said Sali Krasniqi, aged 56.

"I am happy not to see Serbian police as I did when I last voted in 1991."

Many Albanians were voting for the first time in their lives, having boycotted Yugoslav elections since 1991.

The international community has spent months preparing for the elections.

To prevent multiple voting, voters' hands are scanned with ultra-violet light before they cast their ballot, and painted with invisible ink afterwards.

Slow start

The Serbs say Kosovo is part of Serbia, so only Belgrade has the right to call elections in the province.

Mr Rugova's party could emerge on top

Only 1,000 of Kosovo's 80,000 Serbs are registered to vote.

A BBC correspondent in Kosovo Polje, Nicholas Wood, said that organisational problems caused many polling booths in the town's central voting station to open more than two hours late.

At another polling station, in Pristina, there were problems finding the registration of some voters, and only three votes had been cast in the first 40 minutes.

Mr Rugova's wife was one of those prevented from voting because their names did not appear on the electoral roll.

Some 900,000 Kosovans are eligible to vote for 5,500 candidates vying for 920 seats on 30 municipal municipal councils.