DATE=10/02/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, YUGOSLAVIA
INTERNET=
CONTENT= ///NOTE: MARGINAL QUALITY ACTUALITIES///
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Protestors have blocked main intersections in the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, and brought economic activity to a halt in other towns at the start of an opposition-called general strike aimed at forcing President Slobodan Milosevic to yield power. VOA's Eve Conant in Kosovo reports coal miners, truck drivers and power plant workers are joining the protest en masse.
TEXT: Protestors blocked one of the main bridges leading into Belgrade, while on the other side of town taxi drivers protested by standing still and honking their horns at busy interesections. By early Monday, dozens of trucks completely jammed the road outside one opposition-run town in central Yugoslavia, effectively sealing off the town of 80-thousand people.
A campaign of civil disobedience is underway by opposition supporters, who say it is time for President Slobodan Milosevic to accept defeat by opposition challenger Vojislav Kostunica. So far, Mr. Milosevic has kept the police in check, but there is concern violence could break out if protests grow.
The Serbian president, a Milosevic supporter, accused the opposition of seeking "chaos, clashes and unrest". But democratic supporters say they will fight only by non-violent means. One opposition leader was quoted as saying the strikes will last until (Mr.) "Milosevic realizes he is no longer president".
Oliver Ivanovic, head of the Serb National Council for northern Kosovo, and spokesman for the Serbs of Kosovska Mitrovica, says he has no doubt the opposition will succeed in ousting Mr. Milosevic from power.
///IVANOVIC ACT///
No second round for sure. Kostunica is the winner. He's the new president, and I personally recognize him as the president of Yugoslavia, but its more important that he's recognized by some other very important person in Yugoslavia. For example, Montenegro's president recognized him. The Orthodox church, too, recognized him as president.
///END ACT///
Mr. Ivanovic says people have had enough. He predicts the demonstrations will gain momentum.
///IVANOVIC ACT TWO///
All the roads will be blocked, schools, faculties, theater, cinema, garbage collection. Some say the power plant in Kolubara has stopped its production. We can expect more and more everyday. Factories will stop, they will close in the country, like a reaction and a protest against the cheating of the vote, and against Milosevic exactly.
///END ACT///
The Kolubara mine is the only supplier to a nearby power station, which produces half of Serbia's power needs. Workers at the Kolubara mine say police sealed off the main pit Sunday evening, but that there was no violence.
The state power company urged coal miners to return to their jobs immediately, threatening power restrictions that it said could endanger people's health and lives, and cause an ecological catastrophe. At one protest area in Belgrade, police tried to remove license plates of cars blocking a thoroughfare. But protestors sat in the road, blocking the police from leaving with the confiscated plates, which were eventually returned to their owners.
President Milosevic says he is pressing ahead with plans to hold an October eighth runoff vote, despite both domestic and international pressure to accept what the opposition says was its legitimate victory on September 24th. (Signed)
NEB/EC/PFH
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