BBC News Online: World: Europe

Pressure maintained on Milosevic

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

}

(click here to return)

Relevant Stories

Serb media quiet on protests (07 Jul 99 | Monitoring)
Zoran Djindjic: A democratic chauvinist? (06 Jul 99 | Europe)
Tories demand Kosovo inquiry (07 Jul 99 | UK Politics)
Nato is new Russian enemy (06 Jul 99 | Europe)
Kosovo gypsies under threat (05 Jul 99 | Europe)
Milosevic: 'A cancer in the Balkans' (02 Jul 99 | Europe)

Internet Links

United Nations in Kosovo
UNHCR Kosovo refugees latest
Kosovo Crisis Centre
Serbian Ministry of Information
Nato

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In this section

Violence greets Clinton visit
Russian forces pound Grozny
EU fraud: a billion dollar bill
Next steps for peace
Cardinal may face loan-shark charges
Vodafone takeover battle heats up (From Business)
Trans-Turkish pipeline deal signed
French party seeks new leader
Jube tube debut
Athens riots for Clinton visit
UN envoy discusses Chechnya in Moscow
Solana new Western European Union chief
Moldova's PM-designate withdraws
Chechen government welcomes summit
In pictures: Clinton's violent welcome
Georgia protests over Russian 'attack'
UN chief: No Chechen 'catastrophe'
New arms control treaty for Europe
Mannesmann fights back (From Business)
EU fraud -- a billion-dollar bill
New moves in Spain's terror scandal
EU allows labelling of British beef
UN seeks more security in Chechnya
Athens riots for Clinton visit
Russia's media war over Chechnya
Homeless suffer as quake toll rises
Analysis: East-West relations must shift