TENSION MOUNTS IN KOSOVO

( Editorial: --> 6878 ) PRISTINA, Jan 24 (Hina) - After Thursday's incident in Donji Prekazi in the Srbica municipality in Kosovo, in which an Albanian was killed and two young Albanian women injured, the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo said on Friday that the Serbian police forces had began moving in towards Srbica. Citing witnesses, the Kosovo Information Centre claims police trucks carrying weaponry had been noticed, while Albanian sources in Srbica said that almost 300 police officers at the local station had been ready to intervene. The Information Centre also said that police had abused several Albanian residents of the largest Kosovo village of Junike. Leader of the Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, on Friday met diplomats of the US Embassy in Belgrade and the American Information Centre in Pristina. They relayed the concern of the US administration about the worsening of the situation in Kosovo, and advocated a peaceful solution to the issue. At Friday's press conference Rugova harshly condemned Thursday's brutal actions of the Serbian police in the Srbica municipality, and called on the United States and European Union to influence Serbia not to provoke the very tense situation in Kosovo. (hina) lm 241037 MET jan 98