Yugoslav Opposition Storms Parliament Building

B E L G R A D E, Yugoslavia, Oct. 5, 2000 -- Belgrade is burning as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators stormed the federal parliament building, setting it on fire. Opposition supporters have taken over TV Belgrade, the regime mouthpiece and there is no sign of embattled President Slobodan Milosevic.

Demonstrators stormed the Parliament building around 3:30 p.m., local time, smashing glass, throwing documents from windows and setting several fires on the ground floor.

Police holed up in the building fired dozens of rounds of tear gas at demonstrators who have threatened not to leave the streets until Milosevic steps down.

State Serb television went blank and one of its buildings in Belgrade was set on fire after riot police handed it over to demonstrators.

“Victory! Victory!” shouted people in the crowd, holdinghandkerchiefs to their mouths against the tear gas.

“Slobodan, Slobodan, save Serbia and kill yourself!” thedemonstrators chanted, while others smashed the windows of thebuilding.

One person was seriously injured as he tried to storm the TV Belgrade building. A 25-year-old man from Chachak was hit by a machine gun in front of the building.

An ambulance earlier took people away who appeared to havebeen injured when police began firing the tear gas. At leastfive others were taken into the city hall on the other side ofthe square.

Child Heads First

The clash began when a child walked up the steps of theparliament as opposition leader Milan Protic addressed thecrowd. Police tried to stop him and people then ran up thesteps toward the door.

Police then fired the gas from inside the building, sendingcrowds pushing back, choking and coughing and holding clothingover their mouths.

Some young people then tried to enter around the back.Police who had been on guard withdrew and young demonstratorsthrew stones at the windows and jumped on the empty policecars. They later set fire to one of them.

“It’s the only way. These people want something to change,”said Ceda, 21, who gave only his first name.

His friend Mihailo, 22, said: “We just want to live free.”

Opposition leaders had given Milosevic a deadlinecoinciding with the start of the rally to concede outrightdefeat in a presidential election two weeks ago.

“We have no right to leave this place, we cannot go back ifwe don’t win!” Velja Ilic, the popular mayor of theopposition-held town of Cacak, earlier told a sea of peoplefilling the square in front of the parliament.

The atmosphere was jubilant as the demonstration, whichgathered people from all over the country, got under way.

No Activity at Barracks

A military helicopter flew over at one point, promptingjeers from demonstrators, and rumors flew around Belgrade thattroops had left their barracks and were heading for thesquare.

Eyewitnesses said there was no activity at the barracks,while all the streets in the center of town were jammed withprotesters, far more than at any of the many previousdemonstrations against Milosevic’s 13-year rule.

The opposition has accused the authorities of electionfraud and says its candidate, Vojislav Kostunica, won the Sept.24 presidential election outright.

A few hours before the rally, Serbian police had alsoclashed briefly with protesters who tried to enter theYugoslav parliament building.

But the situation soon calmed down, with several protestershugging police in a bid to win them over.

Ilic earlier urged people not to provoke incidents.

“I beg you not to hurl stones at the police. There was anincident because someone stoned a policeman just now. They areours, they have to be with their people, so please do notprovoke any incident,” he told the crowd.

“Give them some more time to think it over and to go to ourside, then we will forgive them everything, the beatings, thetear gas,” he said, the independent Beta news agency reported.

As he spoke, people poured into Belgrade to vent theiranger at what they see as the theft of an opposition electionvictory. Opposition supporters from several towns pushedthrough police cordons and headed for the demonstration in thecapital.

ABCNEWS.com's Dada Jovanovic in Belgrade and Reuters contributed to this report.