Party Leaders Jeered by Serbs at Kosovo Rally

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia —  Thousands of Serbs jeered Communist Party leaders today and turned their backs on Politburo members who tried to speak during a rally in the ethnically troubled province of Kosovo.

Taunts of “Thieves!” and “You betrayed the people!” greeted Politburo members Marko Orlandic and Kasura Jasari, Kosovo’s Communist Party head, when they arrived to address the Serbs in Kosovo Polje, a suburb of the Kosovo capital of Pristina.

The Serbs are unhappy at the outcome of a three-day Central Committee meeting which, they say, did little to solve the country’s ethnic and economic crisis.

Students Boycott Classes

Students in Kosovo, an autonomous province in the republic of Serbia, boycotted classes to express their dissatisfaction with the meeting. The boycott was staged by Slavs, who include both Serbs and ethnic Montenegrins.

The rally began with about 5,000 Serbs waving flags, singing national songs and chanting, “Central Committee members, you have shown your true face!”

At the Central Committee meeting in Belgrade, which ended Wednesday, a Serbian member of the Politburo failed to win a vote of confidence from committee members. It was a blow to the Serbs’ fight for greater control over Kosovo.