Serbian Protesters Urge Settlement of CrisisMore than 2,000 local Serbian residents and refugees in the southern city of Bujanovac, Yugoslavia, blocked the road Wednesday linking Belgrade to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, to press for a rapid solution to the month-long crisis in the area.Local reports said that the protesters, who crammed the road with trucks and buses, set three conditions for ending their protest. They demanded that ethnic Albanian extremists be immediately driven out of southern Serbia and Yugoslav authorities come up with a quick settlement to the Kosovo issue and to conduct an across-the-board implementation of UN Resolution 1244. They also demanded an urgent meeting with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and other international institutions based in the country to search for a solution to the crisis. Since November 21, an array of ethnic Albanian extremists have attacked Serbian police in the south of the Republic of Serbia, inflicting heavy casualties and triggering tension there. In response to the attacks, Belgrade has increased army and police reinforcements in the area, where over 1,000 ethnic Albanian terrorists have currently holed up. The military authorities warned recently that if extremists do not surrender, the conflict will most likely accelerate. |
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