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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Communist Star Falls To Cheers In Belgrade

Compiled From Wire Services

To a chorus of “It’s over! It’s over!” and “Victory! Victory!” two mountaineers scaled a narrow spire above City Hall here Friday night and felled a giant brass star that has marked more than half a century of Communist rule.

Tens of thousands of city residents, necks craned in anticipation, broke into wild celebration when the climbers snatched the faded star from the clear, wintry sky.

The gesture had been ordered by opposition leader Zoran Djindjic, who earlier in the day became the first mayor of Belgrade since World War II not handpicked by the Communists or their Socialist successors.

The celebration capped a remarkable day of political firsts in this tumultuous capital, which for three months has been the center of a popular revolt against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Belgrade was among 14 cities where the Serbian opposition coalition Zajedno (“Together”) won municipal elections last November.

But it took 88 days of street protests before Milosevic’s ruling Socialist Party relinquished power.