DATE=10/01/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
BYLINE=IRENA GUZELOVA
DATELINE=BELGRADE
INTERNET=
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Serbian opposition has launched a nationwide campaign of strikes, road blockages and rallies designed to bring the country to a halt and force the government to recognize the results of last week's presidential elections. Irena Guzelova reports from Belgrade
TEXT: Protestors began by blocking bridges and major thoroughfares across the country. Traffic ground to a halt on one of the main bridges leading to Belgrade's centre while on the other side of the capital, striking taxi drivers staged a noisy protest on a major intersection.
Police were out in force by the time dawn rose. They were taking licence plates off some of the taxis and buses blocking the roads.
The opposition hopes to block the entrance to every major town. They have called on workers in government offices and factories to join the strikes. Schools, universities, cinemas and theatres have also closed.
Across Belgrade garbage containers, building material, bricks and flower pots blocked the streets.
One taxi company announced the start of a strike at six in the morning and taxis stopped dead where they were.
Around 4,000 miners at Serbia's biggest coal mine stopped production on Friday night. The mine is the only supplier to a thermal power plant producing half of Serbia's electricity requirements. Coal supplies at are known to be low and the government has appealed to miners to go back to work lest they plunge the country into darkness.
There was heavy police presence in the capital, and a busload of riot police unloaded into the federal parliament building in the early hours.
It is still not clear how wide-spread the strikes are, or how much damage it will do. Sanctions and years of economic mismanagement mean industry is running at only a fraction of its capacity.
Nevertheless, the action is bound to rattle the government. Opposition leaders hope police don't intervene and crack-down on the protests. (Signed)
NEB/IG/PFH
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