Kosovo Yugoslavia Elections

A party led by moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova was the projected winner in the first free and democratic Kosovo-wide elections Saturday. The balloting for a new parliament, which will elect a president, took place with no significant incidents, although some attempts were made to intimidate voters in the Serb-dominated part of the northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, international authorities said.

Moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova was elected president of Kosovo on Monday in a key step toward building the political structures of democratic self-rule--and perhaps toward ethnic reconciliation. A new parliament in the southern Serbian province also elected Bajram Rexhepi as prime minister. Rexhepi, 47, is a surgeon who broke with Rugova's party four years ago, then worked as a field doctor for the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Grooming the next battlefield for Yugoslavia's roving war, Serb police arrested ethnic Albanian activists, seized ballot boxes and harassed U.S. election monitors Sunday in a vain attempt to disrupt an independence vote in Serbia's restive province of Kosovo.

Moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on Sunday claimed victory for his party in Kosovo's first free and democratic parliamentary elections, and then issued a call for quick independence. "Today or tomorrow, we're ready," he said. Rugova added that he believes the U.N.-administered province, which remains a part of Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia, will achieve recognition as an independent state during the new Kosovo Assembly's three-year term.

Moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on Sunday claimed victory for his party in Kosovo's first free and democratic parliamentary elections, and then issued a call for quick independence. "Today or tomorrow, we're ready," he said. Rugova added that he believes the U.N.-administered province, which remains a part of Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia, will achieve recognition as an independent state during the new Kosovo Assembly's three-year term.

Moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova was elected president of Kosovo on Monday in a key step toward building the political structures of democratic self-rule--and perhaps toward ethnic reconciliation. A new parliament in the southern Serbian province also elected Bajram Rexhepi as prime minister. Rexhepi, 47, is a surgeon who broke with Rugova's party four years ago, then worked as a field doctor for the Kosovo Liberation Army.

A party led by moderate ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova was the projected winner in the first free and democratic Kosovo-wide elections Saturday. The balloting for a new parliament, which will elect a president, took place with no significant incidents, although some attempts were made to intimidate voters in the Serb-dominated part of the northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, international authorities said.

Grooming the next battlefield for Yugoslavia's roving war, Serb police arrested ethnic Albanian activists, seized ballot boxes and harassed U.S. election monitors Sunday in a vain attempt to disrupt an independence vote in Serbia's restive province of Kosovo.