============================================================
===== AIM Evening NEWS for Wednesday, September 27, 2000 =====
============================================================

============================================
RENEWAL MOVEMENT CONFIRMS KOSTUNICA VICTORY
============================================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (Free B92)

The Serbian Renewal Movement's election headquarters said today
that its data confirmed that the Democratic Opposition's Vojislav
Kostunica has won a clear majority in the first round of the
presidential election.

Andjelko Trpkovic, who heads the Renewal Movement's election
office said that according to information processed so far Kostunica
had more than 53 per cent of the vote.

Trpkovic added that the Federal Election Commission should
explain the procedure by which it had arrived at a result which would
require a second round of the election.


=========================
ZASTAVA DIRECTOR RESIGNS
=========================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (Free B92)

Milan Beko, the executive director of the Zastava industrial
complex told Reuters today that he had resigned from the company.
Beko, who is also the federal minister for finance, said that his
resignation yesterday was not a political decision and had nothing to
do with the ruling coalitions heavy losses in Sunday's elections.

"Zastava should be administered by someone who has broad support
at all levels to enable the company to develop," said Beko.

The vice president of the Civil Alliance of Serbia, Nebojsa
Krstic, said last night that Beko had resigned from Zastava because
of the poor election results.


===================================================
WE DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, OPPOSITION SERBS TELL WEST
===================================================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (Reuters)

Serbian opposition leaders and ordinary Belgraders on Tuesday
said a warning by Britain to Slobodan Milosevic would hurt, not help,
their struggle to oust the embattled Yugoslav leader.

"We do not need their help. Statements like this are not helping
the opposition at all," said Gordana, a 35-year-old civil engineer.

"If they want Milosevic to leave, they should keep quiet," she
said. "They should remember that although the majority of citizens
are against Milosevic, we have not forgotten that they bombed us."

"They should stay out of this. Elections are our internal
affair," said Milan, a waiter in a Belgrade restaurant. "The dispute
over election results should be resolved just like Kostunica said -
with reason and in a democratic manner."

Serb opposition officials also made clear that they could do
without statements like British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's
warning to Milosevic not to use "naked power" to cling to office.


=====================
SERBIA IN THE STREETS
=====================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (Beta)

More than ten thousand citizens gathered in the streets of
cities throughout Serbia last night, asking the Federal Electoral
Committee (SIK) to acknowledge the election results and the victory
of DOS presidential candidate, Vojislav Kostunica. About 20.000
citizens gathered on the central square in Cacak celebrating the
victory of DOS in the elections. More than 5.000 citizens gathered on
the Liberty Square in Novi Sad where they protested about the SIK
preliminary results. Few thousand citizens gathered as well in
Kragujevac complaining about the results announced by the governing
coalition. About 2.000 citizens of Uzice hooted the announcement of
preliminary results of the presidential results and the announcement
of the leader of the Socialists of Belgrade, Ivica Dacic about the
presidential runoff. Several thousands of citizens protested in
Zajecar, blowing the whistles and shouting "He is done!" and
"Victory, victory". Several thousands gathered in Jagodina and
Cuprija as well, renouncing the possibility of runoff. The protest of
hundreds of citizens was held in Bor as well. DOS scheduled for next
day protests in many cities in Serbia. The protest in Belgrade has
been scheduled for 8 P.M. in front of the Federal Parliament.


====================================
YUGOSLAV OPPOSITION CALLS FOR RALLY
====================================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (The Associated Press)

Slobodan Milosevic's opponents appealed to Belgraders to pour
into the streets Wednesday, pledging to defend their apparent victory
in the presidential election despite the regime's efforts to engineer
a runoff.

Opposition activists distributed 10,000 baby rattles in downtown
Belgrade, asking people to attend a mass evening rally.


=================================================
SERB POLICE TELL OPPOSITION TO REMOVE RALLY STAGE
=================================================

BELGRADE, September 27, 2000 (Reuters)

Serbian police told opposition activists to take down a stage in
central Belgrade they planned to use for a huge rally to protest at
what they saw as the government's denial of their election victory.

A Reuters reporter said police in plain clothes told the
activists to hurry up with the removal of the stage, almost
completely set up in front of the Yugoslav parliament building, and
chased away journalists trying to film the incident.

The stage designer, Sava Barbuzan, said police had not given
them any formal reason for the move.

The police move came minutes after an opposition activist left
the building, telling reporters he had been denied access by the
Federal Election Commission which is based there to scrutinize the
results of the presidential election on Sunday.

The opposition had planned the central Belgrade rally to
celebrate what it says is a clear and outright victory for Kostunica
and protest at the authorities' refusal to concede defeat.

Police did not interfere in a pre-election rally at the same
place a week ago attended by around 150,000 people.


==========================================
SLOVENIA WELCOMES SERBIAN ELECTION RESULTS
==========================================

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, September 27, 2000 (RFE/RL)

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Ljubljana on 26
September that "Slovenia expects that democratic changes in Serbia
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will open the way to the
normalization of relations and set a new basis for good cooperation
between two friendly nations," Reuters reported.

The statement added that "the Serbian nation has expressed a
will for democratic change and for an end to policies that led to the
country's isolation."


==================================================
AIR FRANCE SUES CONTINENTAL OVER CONCORDE DISASTER
==================================================

PARIS, France, September 27, 2000 (Reuters)

Air France and its insurers are suing U.S. company Continental
Airlines over its alleged role in the July Concorde disaster that
killed 113 people, a spokeswoman for the French carrier said.

French investigators believe a strip of metal fell off a
Continental DC-10 at a Paris airport and subsequently punctured a
wheel on the doomed Air France Concorde during its take-off,
triggering the fiery crash.

"A piece from a Continental Airlines plane caused the Concorde
accident," the Air France spokeswoman told Reuters.

She added that airlines were legally responsible for damage
caused if parts dropped off their aircraft.

Continental said on Tuesday it was aware litigation was being
prepared against it, but said investigations had so far yielded no
definite proof that it was linked to the crash.

The legal action was lodged by Air France and its insurer, the
Reunion Aerienne consortium, at a court in Pontoise, outside Paris,
which is handling the legal side of the disaster.


=====================================
DEATH TOLL 60 IN GREEK FERRY SINKING
=====================================

ATHENS, Greece, September 27, 2000 (Reuters)

The death toll from the sinking of a Greek ferry off the Aegean
holiday island of Paros rose to 60, the Greek Merchant Marine
Ministry said on Wednesday.

It said earlier 443 people had been rescued and accounted for
after the ferry Express Samina ran aground and sank late on Tuesday
in gale-force conditions.

It had no figures for missing people. Earlier, it had said that
there were 510 passengers and crew on the ferry when it ran aground.
Coast Guard figures have suggested, however, that more passengers may
have been on board than registered.


=================================
CHINA ATTACKS VATICAN SAINTS PLAN
=================================

PEKING, China, September 27, 2000 (BBC)

China has launched a vitriolic attack on the Vatican's plans to
canonize 120 Catholic victims of persecution, saying that most
deserved their fate.

"Most. . . were executed for violating Chinese law during the
invasion of China by imperialists and colonialists", said the foreign
ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi, while others "were killed for bullying
the Chinese people".

Mr Sun accused the Vatican of "undermining efforts to improve
relations", which had enabled a close aide of the Pope's - Cardinal
Roger Etchegaray - to visit China last week.

Correspondents say that China has taken particular offense at
the Pope's plans to hold the ceremony on 1 October, the anniversary
of the communist victory in China.


=============================
KOREAS 'TO REMOVE RISK OF WAR
=============================

KOREAS, September 27, 2000 (BBC)

North and South Korea have agreed on the need to "eliminate the
danger of war" on the peninsula during landmark talks between their
defense ministers.

South Korean Defense Minister Cho Sung-tae held two days of
talks with the North's Armed Forces Minister, Vice Marshall Kim
Il-chol, on the South Korean resort island of Cheju.

It was the first meeting between the two countries' defense
chiefs since the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The two sides share the view that it is important for both
sides to ease military tension, remove the danger of war and help a
permanent peace take root," they said in a joint statement.

The discussions follow the historic summit in June between South
Korean President Kim Dae-jung and the North's Stalinist leader, Kim
Jong-il.

The two defense chiefs agreed to hold more talks in North Korea
in November.


=======================================================
46 KILLED IN LATEST RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN THE MOLUCCAS
=======================================================

AMBON, INDONESIA, September 27, 2000 (CBC)

Religious violence continues in the Moluccas islands, with
reports that up to 46 people have been killed in the last 48 hours.

A Church worker says 32 Christians were killed today by Muslim
attackers aided by government soldiers. The victims were shot and
tossed into their burning houses.

Indonesian officials said 14 villagers were shot and hacked to
death on Tuesday in a village near the capital of Ambon.

At least a dozen more were seriously injured, some of them
burned.

The Moluccas, formerly the Spice Islands, are located about
2,000 kilometers east of Jakarta. They have been the scene of bloody
clashes between Christians and Muslims since January 1999.

The Indonesian government has declared a state of emergency, but
has been unable to stop the fighting.


==========================================
NEW HOPE FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SUFFERERS
==========================================

BOSTON, US, September 27, 2000 (CBC)

A new study suggests the onset of multiple sclerosis can be
dramatically delayed or even prevented with early treatment.

The findings came from an international study of nearly 400
people in the United States and Canada. One of the study sites was
Saskatoon, which has the highest rates of MS in Canada.

Multiple sclerosis attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis
and sometimes blindness.

Until now, MS is not officially diagnosed until people have
suffered two attacks - the second spreading beyond the inflammation
of nerves in the eye, spinal cord or lower brain to other parts of
the central nervous system. However, researchers have discovered that
giving patients a drug called interferon beta-1a, or Avonex, within
weeks of the first attack cut the likelihood of developing MS
symptoms within three years by 44 per cent.

Only one-third of patients who gave themselves weekly thigh
injections of the drug developed MS within three years, compared with
half the patients who injected a placebo.

The injections cost up to $1,500 per month. Right now, the
provinces pay for treatment in people with advanced MS, but there's
no guarantee they'll cover people whose disease has barely started.


========
THE NEWS
========

Evening News edited by Aleksandar Stan

AIM, Belgrade, September 27, 2000 16:50


===================================================================
For more information visit our Academic Information Network site at
http://www.aim.ac.yu/
Please send us Your comments to news@... or comment@...
Please send us information You consider valuable to feed@...
To unsubscribe, e-mail us at unsubscr@...