Milosevic put on notice by crowds rally

MORE THAN 100,000 Serbs gathered in Belgrade yesterday for the capital's biggest opposition rally in three years and heard calls for the Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, to step down in 15 days or face nationwide protests.

The protest, organised by independent economists calling themselves the G17 group, fulfilled two of its main objectives - rallying that many people and bringing together Serbia's two leading but divided opposition leaders on one platform.

Vuk Draskovic, the charismatic but unpredictable leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, had dismayed the organisers, and some other parties, by pulling out of the rally at the last moment, saying he disagreed with many of their views and aims.

But yesterday he suddenly appeared in front of the federal parliament after his aide, Spasoje Krunic, the mayor of Belgrade, was drowned out by a chorus of "We want Vuk".

Mr Draskovic called for early elections under new electoral laws, including free media. "We are in a prison, because the people at the helm of the federal state and Serbia are isolated from the world," he said.

Some sections of the crowd booed as Mr Draskovic left, plastic bottles were thrown in his direction and some of his bodyguards were involved in scuffles before they gathered around him and led him away.

Mr Draskovic's main rival, Zoran Djindjic of the Democratic Party, set a deadline for Mr Milosevic and his government to step down. "If they are still there after 15 days then Serbia will go out into the streets, not only in Belgrade, but in all towns," he said. "Everybody will go out into the streets with one single message - we will stay here until you go. It's either Milosevic or Serbia, there can be no third solution."

Yesterday's demonstration was the biggest in Serbia since street protests in 1996, led jointly by Mr Draskovic and Mr Djindjic, to force Mr Milosevic to recognise opposition gains in local elections that gave them control of key towns and cities across the country.

The rally brought together people of all ages. They came by car and train, by bus and by foot to Belgrade's Old Town. Each carried with him a different grievance. For one man it was the fact that his pension is late. For another, it is the loss of Kosovo that pains and shames him. Vesna, a student, wanted to live in a democracy. Milan wanted a job.

For months, Nato carried the blame for the misfortunes of the Serbs. But that has shifted now. The war is barely mentioned any more; now, in their tens of thousands, Serbs are calling their own leaders to account for the state of the nation. Its condition is serious, bordering on critical. The UN World Food Programme says that more than two million Serbs are living below the poverty line, with incomes of less than pounds 20 a month - not even enough to buy food to eat.

In the shade of a tall, modern building in the centre of the city, a security guard sat in his booth. He said he could not afford to buy a kilogram of apples for his daughter, so he buys one at a time, carefully carrying it home and watching her devour it greedily and carelessly. And hoping she won't ask for more. The revolution - if it comes - will be driven by these small humiliations.

Mladjen Dinkic, the co- ordinator of G17, said it was the last chance for those who support the President - the Federal and Serbian parliaments, businessmen, the army and the police, to go peacefully. "But they can stay aboard the Titanic if they choose. If they don't sign our contract to form a new, transitional government we will leave them to God and to the people," she said.

If their demands are not met, more demonstrations will follow next month and the warning of violence is implicit. For those who maintain Mr Milosevic in power, Mr Dinkic is offering spaces in the lifeboat. "For Milosevic," he said, "we have nothing to offer. His fate is already decided."

Michael Williams is foreign affairs correspondent for BBC Radio 4's `Today' programme