Yugoslav revolt in full flood

12:30 PM - By Philippa Fletcher

BELGRADE - The Yugoslav opposition is in charge of the capital's streets after a popular and almost bloodless revolution appears to have swept President Slobodan Milosevic from power.

Demonstrators stormed the federal parliament as well as the building housing the executive of Milosevic's Socialist Party. Even his propaganda machine switched sides, many of his police joined the protesters and the army stayed in its barracks.

After initial resistance from police, who fired tear gas, crowds burst into parliament, setting fire to some parts and ransacking filing cabinets. They also took over Serbian state television.

There was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Milosevic, but the independent Beta news agency reported late on Thursday that three aircraft had taken off from a military airport near Belgrade, fuelling speculation that some of the leadership might be leaving.

Serb opposition party leader Zoran Djindjic said on Friday that Milosevic had retreated to the east Serbian town of Bor, close to the Romanian and Bulgarian borders, and warned he might be preparing to try to regain power.

``He is now in Bor surrounded by his closest associates,'' Djindjic said on Serbian state television, ``and I suppose that he may be preparing a coup. That would be very bad if he now pushed people further into conflicts.''

Beta said the Yugoslav army would not interfere in protests by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.

``The Yugoslav army will in no way interfere in street events,'' Beta quoted a source close to the military leadership as saying.

When asked whether the opposition was in contact with the armed forces, a former general turned opposition leader, Vuk Obradovic, told Reuters: ``Negotiations are constantly underway.''

Asked whether there were any results, he said: ``Can't you see that the army is silent and acting properly?'' The key thing at this moment is that people remain out in the streets because we haven't passed the most critical moment.''

He said he meant between 3 and 5 am, the period also cited by Djindic.

Serbian television, an important weapon in Milosevic's armory after the authorities banned some independent media, went blank for several hours and came out with a written message saying: ``This is the new Radio Television Serbia broadcasting.''

The state news agency Tanjug, long a mouthpiece of Milosevic and his leftist coalition, referred to opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica as ``elected president of Yugoslavia'' in a report signed ``Journalists of Liberated Tanjug.''

In another sign of the end of Milosevic's iron-fisted, 13-year-long rule, police withdrew on Thursday from a coal mine where workers were on strike for the sixth day, putting them in the forefront of the country-wide campaign to oust Milosevic.

Opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica, the center of the protest after he beat Milosevic in presidential elections which were then annulled by the authorities, told the protesters on Thursday they had defeated Milosevic.

``Good evening, liberated Serbia,'' he told the cheering crowd.

``Serbia hit the road of democracy and where there is democracy there is no place for Slobodan Milosevic,'' he said.

Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) blasted the opposition for causing unrest and violence and vowed to fight back with ``all means to secure peaceful life.''

Inside the parliament fires burned in one wing of the building, sending up dense black smoke to cheers from the flag-waving crowd outside.

``Victory! Victory!'' shouted people in the crowd. ``Slobodan, Slobodan, save Serbia and kill yourself.''

Foreign TV pictures also showed that a number of soldiers in uniform joined the crowd in the parliament, where they were embraced by the protesters.

Witnesses said some of the 10,000-strong crowd threw stones at the police, but opposition leader Velja Ilic appealed for calm. ``I beg you not to hurl stones at the police...they are ours, they have to be with their people,'' he told the crowd.

Beta reported that one girl died when she was run over by an excavator during the demonstrations and three other people were injured by firearms in Belgrade. It was not immediately clear who was responsible.

About 100 people sustained various other injuries.

The rally was the climax of a campaign that began on Monday and has been gathering strength since, with civil servants, shopkeepers and factory workers staging strikes and rallies. Crucial to the campaign were coal miners whose strike has forced Serbia's largest electricity generator to order power cuts.

The opposition, backed by Western governments, says official election results showing Kostunica had failed to gain an overall majority of the votes were fraudulent, and demanded that Milosevic accept defeat and resign.

The Constitutional Court added fuel to the crisis on Thursday by annulling the election and ordering a re-run, a ruling that would leave Milosevic in power for months to come.

Court President Milutin Srdic said a new election should be held before the president's mandate expires, giving Milosevic, known for his skill at wearing down and dividing political opponents, until next July to organize a fresh poll.

On Thursday President Clinton said he hoped ``the hour is near'' when Yugoslavia would be free of Milosevic.

``In Serbia, where a decade ago the forces of destruction began their march across the Balkans, now the march of freedom is gaining new ground,'' Clinton said at Princeton University.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the message from Yugoslavs to Milosevic was clear: ``Go. Go now. Go before any more lives are lost, before there is any more destruction.''

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the opposing forces in Yugoslavia to avoid violence and said he hoped Yugoslavia's international isolation could be ended.

- REUTERS

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Otpor: Serbian Student Resistance Movement