SERBIA: LESKOVAC: ANTI-GOVERNMENT RALLY

(31 Jul 1999) Serbo-Croat/Nat

Around 4-thousand people joined an anti-government rally in Serbia on Friday.

They heard calls from opposition politiician Zoran Djindjic for the west to stand by the people of Serbia.

Thousands of Serbs protesting against the government gathered in Leskovac on Friday.

They were singing a pre-World War II Serbian song in support of the Alliance for Change.

But they don't just want a change of National Anthem.

Most of all they want a change of government.

Politicians taking part in the rally spoke out against the leading party and President Slobodan Milosevic.

Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party, repeated his calls for Milosevic's removal, calling him an obstacle that has to be removed.

But he said that isolating Serbia would not help to get him out of office.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"In all countries you have thieves and lunatics and lazy people. But in those countries they are in jails, mental hospitals or wandering the streets. Only in our country they sit in government and rule."
SUPER CAPTION: Zoran Djindjic, Leader, Democratic Party

Serbia is currently being frozen out by many western countries.

Djindjic is upset that Serbia was not included in talks held in Sarajevo on Friday.

World leaders met in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina to discuss a long-term stability pact for the Balkans.

Serbia, the main republic in Yugoslavia, was excluded.

The country has suffered because of Milosevic' presidency before.

Many Western leaders have said Serbia will get no major reconstruction aid while Milosevic, an indicted war crimes suspect, remains in power.

On Friday the West was actively showing support for Milosevic's opponents in Serbia.

One opposition representative, Dragoslav Avramovic, was allowed to attend the Sarajevo summit.

Djindjic said Avramovic, a former Yugoslav Central Bank governor, would ask for fuel for the Serbian people for heating purposes.

Serbia's economy has been shattered by years of mismanagement and international sanctions, as well as the 78-day NATO bombing campaign that destroyed much of the
country's fuel reserves.

There are fears of severe shortages in the coming winter.

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