Protest Aimed at Albanians in Yugoslavia

More than 20,000 Serbs and Montenegrins shouted “We want arms!” as they defied Yugoslavia’s Communist leaders Saturday and staged a rally to protest harassment by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo province.

The demonstration in Titograd, capital of the Montenegro republic, was the first such gathering outside the republic of Serbia, in which the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina are located.

Academic and sculptor Svetomir Arsic-Basara, a Serb from Kosovo, told the crowd about pressures and abuses suffered by non-Albanians at the hands of the majority ethnic Albanians.

The crowd responded by chanting: “We want arms! we want arms!”

Yugoslav Communist Party leaders have condemned previous Serbian rallies as “politically damaging” forms of “undemocratic pressure.”

But Miroslav Solevic, a protest organizer, told the cheering crowd, “It is our duty to exert bitter pressure on all those in the country who haven’t contributed to the solution of the Kosovo problem.”

“The soul of the people has spoken and only the politically blind will fail to draw a conclusion from it,” he said.

Kosovo has been a trouble spot since 1981, when ethnic Albanian separatists rioted to back demands for an ethnically pure Kosovo republic.

More than 30,000 Serbs and Montegrins, who are outnumbered 8 to 1 in Kosovo by the Albanians, have fled the province, alleging they are terrorized by the Albanians.

Since he came to power two years ago, Serbian Communist Party leader Slobodan Milosevic has been pressing for constitutional changes to put the two provinces under direct Serbian rule in order to crack down on Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

His demands have met stiff resistance from leaders in both Kosovo and Vojvodina.

As some 200 Serbs and Montenegrins arrived by train from Kosovo, thousands of emotional Titograders, many sobbing, rushed to join them, offering baskets of fruit and refreshments and pledges to fight for their cause.

Others, who arrived from Kosovo by car and bus, were given free rides by 200 taxi drivers who met them at the city’s outskirts.

By the time they reached the main square, the crowd had swelled to more than 20,000 in 104-degree heat.

The crowd, shouting slogans in support of Milosevic, carried banners, Yugoslav and Communist Party flags and a picture of late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito.

They demanded a purge of Communist leaders in Kosovo and elsewhere in Yugoslavia who were dragging their feet on the problem.