Riots in Belgrade,protesters storming the Serbian Parliament
Anti-Milosevic demonstrators,suffering effects of tear-gas
All the indications are that the President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, has been successfully overthrown in a popular uprising. An independent news agency has reported that the Yugoslav Army will remain in barracks, while speculation remains that Milosevic and his family may have been aboard three transport aircraft which are reported to have left a Belgrade military airport this evening. Earlier, the official mouth-piece for his regime, Tanjug news agency, said that it now recognised the opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica as Yugoslavia's elected president. Fires in the Parliament and in the state television building, have been brought under control. And in a rally, before tens of thousands of people, Mr Kostunica said that he was convening the first session of the newly-elected Yugoslav parliament.
Earlier the Yugoslav opposition leader, Vojislav Kostunica, said that President Slobodan Milosevic had fled his home in Belgrade. Mr Kostunica was speaking to hundreds of thousands of anti-Milosevic protesters who took to the streets today and stormed the parliament building in the centre of the city. Police units are reported to have vacated police stations and the national television building. In a statement this evening the ruling Socialist Party said that it would fight back with "all means". President Clinton said that the United States was with the Yugoslav people in their struggle to get their country back, but he ruled out military intervention.
On this evening's 6:1 News RTÉ Foreign Editor, Margaret Ward, reported that police units had left a number of police stations and the national television station to the protestors. The independent radio station B292 reported that 15 army jeeps retreated after almost reaching Belgrade city centre and moved back towards their base on the outskirts of the Yugoslav capital. Reporters on the streets of Belgrade said earlier today that some police forces had joined demonstrators in the streets.
The crisis came to a head following rumours that Yugoslavia's Supreme Court annulled the recent presidential elections, effectively meaning that Milosevic would remain in power, at least until June. The United States said that Mr Milosevic's position was crumbling, while Britain's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, said Milosevic had to go.
One of the key questions in what is becoming a popular uprising is which way the security forces will react up to now, they have been loyal to President Milosevic. After the first clashes, about 10,000 people converged on the parliament building. As the crowd continued to mill around the parliament, some went to the nearby building of RTS, the state television service. This has been another loyal supporter of president Milosevic until today at least when hundreds of its workers joined the strike. About ten policemen were seen coming out of the building and joining the opposition forces. At least one police station is reported to have surrendered to the opposition forces.
During all this time RTS missed its scheduled new bulletins it was showing a concert of classical music instead. Then all three RTS channels went off the air the demonstrators had stormed one of the buildings, which was in flames. The stations have come on the air again tonight, with a written message announcing themselves as "the new programme" of RTS. The state news agency, Tanjug, has also announced that it's behind the people... it has been referring to the opposition leader, Vojislav Kostunica, as the elected president of the people.
The opposition has mass support among the people, but the leadership is facing a potentially difficult question in last night's ruling from the constitutional court. It has invalidated part of the election process initial reactions were that this was a trap for the opposition. The head of the court has been quoted as saying that the ruling means that the elections would have to be held again. However, that would be after President Milosevic's term of office expires, in the middle of next year.
The American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is in Egypt, has said that last night's decision by Yugoslavia's Constitutional Court to annul the first round of the presidential election was an effort to "thwart the will of the people". She said that it is evident that the opposition leader, Vojislav Kostunica had won the election.
