KOSOVO ALBANIANS WANT INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC

( Editorial: --> 4658 ) PRISTINA, 26 Feb (Hina) - Ibrahim Rugova was elected President of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (DSK) for the third time on Wednesday. The DSK is the largest party of Kosovo Albanians. A DSK convention described the situation in Kosovo as very tense and called on the international community to do all it can so that incidents could be avoided. The convention adopted a programme declaration which says that the DSK would support "an independent and democratic Republic of Kosovo and its constitutional establishment, as well as guarantee and respect rights of other peoples in Kosovo in line with international standards." The DSK supports the idea that Albanians in Macedonia be a constitutive element, and that Albanians in southern Serbia and Montenegro have their own self-government. (hina) jn rm 261117 MET feb 98