MACEDONIAN POLICE AND ALBANIAN DEMONSTRATORS CLASH IN GOSTIVAR

SKOPJE, July 9 (Hina) - Three policemen were seriously injured in clashes with Albanian demonstrators in the western Macedonian town of Gostivar on Wednesday, the Macedonian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Demonstrators demolished one police vehicle and police arrested three ethnic Albanians after finding Molotov cocktails in their cars, the statement added. More than 2,000 ethnic Albanians took to the streets of Gostivar Wednesday afternoon after the Macedonian police had removed the Albanian and Turkish flags from the town halls in Gostivar and nearby Tetovo earlier in the day. The flags had been displayed since the end of last year when representatives of the Party of the Democratic Prosperity of Albanians were elected mayors of the two towns. Macedonian radio said that demonstrators dispersed around 16.00 hours but that gunshots could still be heard across the town. (hina) vm 091738 MET jul 97