U.N. OKs Yugoslav Vote in Kosovo; Critics Fear Fraud

In a boost to President Slobodan Milosevic, the United Nations on Monday grudgingly agreed to demands by his supporters that Kosovo residents be allowed to vote in upcoming Yugoslav elections.

The decision, by Bernard Kouchner, Kosovo’s chief U.N. administrator, should result in only a limited number of votes being cast in the Sept. 24 presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Serbs in the province number only in the tens of thousands.

Still, with no plans for an independent ballot count in Kosovo or outside monitoring of the elections, critics of Milosevic fear that the Yugoslav president’s camp will pad the results heavily in his favor.

Milosevic has been accused of cheating in past votes.