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Reservists demand Kosovo pay

Yugoslav army reservists have begun a new wave of protests to demand payment due for service in Kosovo.

They also want welfare payments for the families of those killed or injured during the conflict with Nato.

It is six weeks since the war ended, and many still have not been paid for their time in the army. Little wonder then that tempers are getting frayed.

Frustration among reservists in the central Serbian town of Kragujevac is driving them to desperate measures.

About 200 reservists blocked a main road outside the town, pushing aside a handful of police.

Pledge on pay

The Yugoslav Government - anxious to defuse the crisis - now says it will pay the reservists in six instalments, starting on the first of August.

This seems a rash promise, since the amount of money owed nationwide is equivalent to Yugoslavia's entire foreign currency reserves.

The reservists want the government to take notice. If not, they say they will take their grievances to Belgrade.

One man I spoke to spent most of the war in Kosovo. Unlike many reservists, he has some money from his own business.

But speaking to us at his home in Krusevac, he said the war hangs over him in other ways.

"One phobia I had during the war was that I couldn't sleep in an Albanian house. When my unit arrived in Kosovo, I couldn't bring myself to sleep in one of their abandoned houses."

His friend was also mobilised.

"I was most distressed by the convoys of Albanian refugees I saw. They were mostly women and children, little kids like my own.

"I think the state has forgotten its soldiers. It is treating us like a stepmother."

These men are disillusioned and dissatisfied and there are thousands like them in Serbia.

Fertile ground for the opposition, which is campaigning to remove Yugolsav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Relevant Stories

Kosovo: Investigating the killings (22 Jul 99 | Europe)
Will the KLA demilitarise? (21 Jul 99 | Europe)
Serb exodus warning (20 Jul 99 | Europe)
Moves to ease Yugoslav sanctions (19 Jul 99 | Europe)
Rebuilding Kosovo: ministers talk money (13 Jul 99 | Europe)
Serbia's silent refugee crisis (12 Jul 99 | Europe)

Internet Links

Kosovo Crisis Centre
Serbian Ministry of Information
United Nations in Kosovo
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
UN High Commissioner for Refugees - Kosovo update

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

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