Albanians in Kosovo Protest Serbia’s Moves

Thousands of ethnic Albanians marched Wednesday in the capital of Kosovo province in the largest protest since the republic of Serbia dissolved the legislature and administration of the rebellious province, witnesses said.

The demonstrators were peaceful and dispersed on orders of police after the hourlong march, said the witnesses, who requested anonymity, in telephone interviews from the provincial capital of Pristina, 200 miles south of Belgrade.

From 10,000 to 15,000 office and factory employees left their workplaces at 9 a.m. during the regular morning break and filed silently through the city center, said the witnesses.

Large numbers of police stood by in case of trouble, they said.

The demonstration was part of a weeklong “passive resistance” program sponsored by ethnic Albanian pro-democracy groups. The program began Monday, but participation was low the first two days.

The program was called to protest the dismissal of the entire provincial governmental machinery and assumption of control by Serbia’s Communist government on July 5.

Serbia acted four days after lawmakers of the province’s 1.7-million-strong ethnic Albanian majority declared that Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia and was instead a new republic within the multiethnic Yugoslav federation of 23 million.

Kosovo is the most pressing political problem in the Balkan nation, pitting ethnic Albanians demanding greater autonomy against Yugoslavia’s 8.5 million majority Serbs, who cherish the province as the “cradle” of their centuries-old heritage and religion.

Members of the dissolved Kosovo administration Wednesday suffered a major setback in their efforts to fight the Serbian government’s action when Yugoslavia’s eight-member collective presidency announced it backed the takeover.