150,000 at opposition rally; Yugoslav president lashes out at foes

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - More than 150,000 people jammed the streets outside parliament Wednesday, jeering at President Slobodan Milosevic and chanting, ''He's finished,'' in an election rally for his top opponent that dwarfed a pro-Milosevic gathering nearby.

Opposition candidate Vojislav Kostunica promised a ''different Serbia'' in an address to the crowd outside Belgrade's Federal Parliament building in a boisterous display of anti-Milosevic sentiment before presidential and parliamentary elections Sunday.

Many shouted, ''He's finished,'' waving signs with the same slogan or pictures of Milosevic headed out the door. Others chanted, ''Save Serbia from this madhouse, Kostunica,'' or jeered loudly at any mention of the president's name.

''There is a great chance and hope that after (Sunday's) elections, we will begin a new life in different Serbia,'' Kostunica told the joyful crowd, concluding his speech with: ''May God help you to have enough courage ... to win freedom! For Serbia!''

Milosevic labeled his opponents ''rats and hyenas'' while on a campaign stop earlier Wednesday in Montenegro, the smaller of Yugoslavia's two republics, where pro-Western leaders have urged residents to boycott what it considers an unfair vote.

In Belgrade, the president later addressed about 10,000 supporters in a sports hall across the Sava River while Kostunica prepared to speak. Although the size of the hall limited the crowd, the turnout for the candidates' rallies backed the message of recent polls.

Opinion surveys show Kostunica with a double-digit lead on Milosevic. There are fears, however, that Milosevic would not concede a loss and could try to stay in power by rigging the vote or imposing martial law.

At the sports hall, in a gathering complete with standing ovations and the orchestrated rhythmic clapping, Milosevic said the opposition is ''incited (by the West) to spread terrorism and crime ... and destroy families through religious sects, spy groups and drug lords.''

He vowed to fight the ''evil'' opposition ''which wants to destroy the minds of our children and youth ... just like we fought the aggressors,'' during last year's NATO bombing that forced Milosevic to cede control of Kosovo to the United Nations.

On his visit to Montenegro, Milosevic lashed out at the West, Montenegro's leadership and Serbia's opposition, calling them ''rabbits, rats and even hyenas who wish to transform this gigantic nation into a poodle at the whim of its foreign master.''

About 400 troops and Serbian police who accompanied Milosevic from Belgrade secured the military base where he spoke, while a few miles down the road, heavily armed local police loyal to Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic stood guard in the town of Berane, 40 miles northeast of the republic's capital, Podgorica.

Milosevic arrived by helicopter to the previously undisclosed location and limited his visit to the base. That he took such precautions even in northern Montenegro, considered a stronghold of his supporters, reflects rising tensions ahead of the elections.

Montenegro's leadership has broken virtually all ties with Belgrade and enjoys substantial support from the West for taking up market and pro-democracy reforms. Western governments are carefully watching Montenegro this weekend, fearing military clashes.

''Our country is the focus of much attention from the world's strongest nations, as if mankind has no other worries but how ... Serbs and Montenegrins will govern their joint state,'' Milosevic told over 10,000 cheering supporters during his Montenegro stop.

Many in the crowd were bused in from nearby pro-Serb strongholds. People shouted ''Slobo, Slobo,'' ''We Love You Slobo,'' and ''We are all Yugoslavia,'' and carried Milosevic's framed pictures and posters.