BBC News Online: World: Europe

Yugoslav election complaints rejected

The commission said in a statement that Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate Vojislav Kostunica would have to go into a second-round run-off vote against President Slobodan Milosevic on 8 October.

The DOS had lodged a series of complaints and demanded a comparison of the official voting records with those gathered by opposition monitors.

In a separate development, the UN Human Rights Rapporteur for the Balkans, Jiri Dienstbier, said he had heard that President Slobodan Milosevic had "refused" Russian mediation in the disputed presidential vote.

There has been no official word on this from the authorities in Belgrade.

"We are ready to be more active in the process" Mr Putin said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

The Russian leader added that "the position of Russia is clear: the Yugoslav people, and only the Yugoslav people, must decide their ultimate fate."

General strike

The DOS has called for a general strike from Monday, unless the government concedes that Mr Kostunica won the presidential elections outright.

About 20,000 people attended an opposition rally in Belgrade on Friday. But that was far less than the turnout for a rally on Wednesday and the BBC correspondent in Belgrade says the opposition campaign has got off to a patchy start.

The army has refused an opposition invitation to discuss a peaceful transfer of power.

Western leaders have added their voices to the opposition's demand for Mr Milosevic to step down.

He reiterated the US rejection of any deals with Mr Milosevic, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Kosovo.

"The position is: out of power, out of Yugoslavia and in The Hague," he said.

Kosovo election 'lie'

The UN administrator for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, said the figure of 140,000 votes for President Milosevic in Kosovo was a "lie".

The UN mission had witnessed no more than 45,000 voters going to the polls in the province, he said.

There have been rumours in Belgrade that Mr Milosevic may be planning an escape route to Russia.

But the BBC correspondent in Belgrade, Jacky Rowland, says such a scenario still appears some way off.