Kosovo Bans Mass Gatherings, Travel

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia —  The government of Kosovo province Wednesday banned mass gatherings and group travel in the troubled region following demonstrations by ethnic Albanians opposed to stricter Serbian rule.

Kosovo Interior Minister Rahman Morina announced the ban, which is less restrictive than the state of emergency imposed by federal authorities to quell bloody riots in 1981, when Albanian separatists demanded more independence and wanted to upgrade the province to a republic.

“It was calm in the streets of Pristina this afternoon, but Albanians and Serbs have completely differing views on the ban,” Belgrade Radio reported from the Kosovo capital, situated about 190 miles south of Belgrade.

The ban was imposed after five days of street demonstrations by ethnic Albanians protesting constitutional changes that are to return some of Kosovo’s autonomy to Serbia. The protests were the biggest since the demonstrations seven years ago when 10 people were killed and 250 wounded.

With about 1.8 million ethnic Albanians and 200,000 Serbs, Kosovo is an autonomous province within Serbia, the largest of Yugoslavia’s six republics.

Ethnic unrest in Kosovo has added to tensions in Yugoslavia, plagued by its worst economic and political crisis in 40 years.