Judge Releases Serb Suspect

An ethnic Albanian judge released a Serb arson suspect Thursday, a move that may ease tensions in this ethnically divided city in Kosovo.

The release of Dalibor Vukovic comes after days of protests by Serbs who insisted he was targeted because of his ethnicity.

Vukovic, who is one of several Serb militants who watch over the main bridge into their part of the city, was charged with assault, theft and arson in the burning of an ethnic Albanian's car last month.

Vukovic, who was arrested Monday, told the judge he had been out drinking June 9 and didn't remember anything. He was released on his own recognizance, and U.N. officials said the case is supposed to resume within two weeks.

Local Serb leaders, who had called for "peaceful resistance," indicated there would be no reason now for unrest to continue.

Still, the leader of the city's Serbs, Oliver Ivanovic, indicated an evening demonstration would go forward and accused the United Nations of allowing the situation to get out of control.

"This is political harassment, which is not very good for the relationship between the Serb community and the internationals," he said. "We have a lot of big crimes in this region, but no Albanians are arrested."

William Nash, the U.N. administrator for the city, suggested that vigilante justice was not the answer to Kosovo's troubles. "It is essential that the rule of law prevails in north Mitrovica and that all attempts to interfere with it are thwarted," he said.

After his release, Vukovic shook hands with Ivanovic before driving away from the courthouse.

Some 2,000 Serbs demonstrated earlier Thursday, the fourth day in a row protesters rallied to demand Vukovic's release.

Kosovska Mitrovica is home to the largest Serb community remaining in Kosovo, following the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops last year after the 78-day NATO bombing campaign.

Ethnic Albanians consider the ethnic division of the city as a symbol of the failure of the United Nations and NATO to build a united Kosovo.

On Thursday, an ethnic Albanian leader who was a member of the delegation that tried to negotiate an end to the Kosovo crisis in Rambouillet, France, last year complained that the United Nations had allowed a parallel, Serb administration to develop in the city.

Blerim Shala, writing in the Albanian language newspaper Zeri, said the new Serb governmental structure "does not accept U.N. jurisdiction on the other side of the river," as shown by Serbs' undermining U.N. plans to register all Kosovars for municipal elections this fall.

The United Nations admitted Wednesday that it had been unable to persuade many Serbs to register for the October elections and halted the registration process.

By ROBERT H. REID