VIC: More than 300 ethnic Serbs rally outside US consulate

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-1999
VIC: More than 300 ethnic Serbs rally outside US consulate

MELBOURNE, April 17 AAP - More than 300 members of Melbourne's ethnic Serbian community
today rallied peacefully outside the United States consulate to demand an end to NATO
airstrikes against Yugoslavia.

The protesters earlier marched down Melbourne's main boulevard, St Kilda Rd, forcing one
lane to be blocked to traffic by Victorian police.

The Serbian community has held almost daily protests at the consulate since the airstrikes
started last month, turning out in greater numbers at weekends.

Banners carried by the protesters included one saying NATO stood for Nazi American
Terrorist Organisation, and others saying Australia had double standards in backing NATO
strikes against Yugoslavia but doing nothing to stop violence in East Timor.

AAP gf/jnb/de

KEYWORD: KOSOVO VIC

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