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Monday, September 18 9:17 AM SGT

Yugoslav poll divides Kosovo's embattled Serbs

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia, Sept 18 (AFP) -
The idea that voting in the Yugoslav presidential election could take place in
Kosovo triggered a furious political battle and made a mockery of the slogan
daubed on walls across the province: "Only unity will save the Serbs."

The political passions that are running so high in Belgrade are all the more
intense in Kosovo's embattled Serbian enclaves, and the rivalries are all the
more likely to trigger violence in the province's lawless post-war state.

The most spectacular example to date of the divisions the poll has exacerbated
was the greeting accorded opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica in northern
Kosovska Mitrovica, the largest Serbian community left in UN-run Kosovo.

While around half of the 2,000 strong crowd cheered his every declaration, many
of the rest, screaming "Traitor!", subjected him to a 15-minute barrage of
stones and rotting fruit as he struggled to give his stump speech.

For Kosovo's Serbs there is only one issue worth fighting for in these
elections, the final status of their province. The territory and its majority
ethnic Albanian population are a United Nations protectorate, apparently on the
path towards independence.

It is a process the Serbs agree they want stopped. Where they disagree is on who
is to blame for getting them into this position.

Kostunica is well placed to win the support of those who agree that Yugoslav
President Milosevic's "catastrophic policy" caused the conflict that led to NATO
intervention and Serbia's effective partition.

Milosevic, however, can count on the support of those who backed his crusade
against ethnic Albanian "terrorists" and who believe the opposition is the
lackey of the western powers that conducted a 78-day air war against Yugoslavia
and are now preparing another election, the October 28 municipal poll viewed by
ethnic Albanians as the next step in their march to independence.

This fierce debate, which mirrors the one going on in Serbia-proper, is being
carried out without the intervention of the authorities -- Kosovo's UN
administration and KFOR peacekeeping force are keeping the election at arms
length.

Bernard Kouchner, Kosovo's de facto governor, did not want polling for the
September 24 vote to be carried out on his patch, but under the terms of his UN
Security Council mandate did not feel he could prevent it.

KFOR is tasked with providing security to all those living in Kosovo, including
Serbs who decide to campaign and vote, risking violence at the hands of both
Serbian opponents and ethnic Albanians opposed to any process that reminds the
world of Belgrade's continuing claim on the province.

Kouchner has refused to take part in the organisation of the election, branding
it a provocation and a farce. KFOR troops stood by as Kostunica was pelted,
ready to intervene if assassins attempted to follow through the logic of the
crowd's anger, but unwilling to become associated with the election campaign.

The campaign has also been influenced by the manoeuvring of local Serbian
politicians, striving to gain and keep control over their communities, whatever
the results in Belgrade.

Mitrovica's hardline Serbian leader, Oliver Ivanovic, has thrown his weight
behind the Kostunica campaign and his self-defence militia, the Bridge Watchers,
have been involved in street battles with Milosevic loyalists.

His decision to side with the opposition reversed his earlier vow to "ignore"
the poll, and is perhaps a sign of his increased independance from Belgrade,
according to diplomatic sources.

The seizure of the Zvecan lead smelter just north of Mitrovica by KFOR led to
around 2,000 workers being taken out of Belgrade's orbit and put on the United
Nations payroll. Factory manager Novak Bjelic, a Milosevic loyalist, has been
banned from the province.

As Belgrade's influence fades, Ivanovic may be able to reposition himself,
losing his hardline image while retaining the loyalty of his supporters,
according to the same sources.

But whether his good offices and the anger of Kosovo Serbs at their isolation
can deliver the province to the opposition remains to be seen, especially as in
the absence of proper electoral monitoring Milosevic supporters could easily
manipulate the result.

"Milosevic won't let me win," Kostunica has warned.



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