Ethnic Tensions Cited as Violence Flares in Yugoslav Province
Police briefly clashed with about 10,000 people and used truncheons to control a crowd Friday in ethnically tense Kosovo province, Yugoslav media said.
The incident occurred when thousands of people gathered outside the Hall of Culture in Kosovo Polje. There, Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian Communist Party chief, was listening to complaints about alleged harassment of minorities by the Albanian majority in Kosovo, Yugoslav Television reported.
Eyewitnesses said that about 300 delegates of the crowd of Serbs and Montenegrins were admitted to the hall to talk to Milosevic but that between 10,000 and 15,000 people waiting outside also wanted to be present at the talks.
The clash started when police pushed people away from the entrance and across the street, eyewitnesses said. The national news agency Tanjug said “a number of citizens threw stones at police.”
Eyewitnesses said police used truncheons during the clash, which lasted about 10 minutes, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
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