A top official in the Socialist Party has announced that Yugoslav President Milosevic will visit Kosovo - a move that could expose him to arrest as an indicted war criminal.
Mr Nikola Sainovic, spokesman for the party, said "The President will travel to Kosovo and Montenegro", but he declined to say when Mr Milosevic would visit and even whether it would be before or after Yugoslav elections. Pressed for further details, Mr Sainovic said: "I've told you enough."
The announcement comes a day after the general secretary of the Socialist Party, Mr Gorica Gajevic, made an unexpected visit to the province and told a crowd of pro-Milosevic Serbs in Gracanica that 500 polling stations would be set up in Kosovo.
Mr Gajevic also announced that 200 flats would be built for returning Serb refugees.
The suggestion of a Milosevic visit will further highlight the issue of Kosovo within the Yugoslav election campaign now under way, prior to local, federal and presidential polls on September 24th.
Kosovo is, according to UN Security Resolution 1244, technically a part of sovereign Yugoslavia, but it is administered by the United Nations.
A further sign that the Milosevic regime plans to exploit Kosovo comes with the announcement that a special Yugoslav army unit for Kosovo will be doing training exercises close to the border today.
According to the agreement that governed the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo in June last year, a contingent of Yugoslav forces was to return. But it has never happened. Hundreds of Serbs have fled the province since the KFOR peacekeeping force arrived. Many Serbs now say that Kosovo is effectively lost to Serbia, but it still arouses deep emotions.
Historically, Kosovo Serbs were the most ardent supporters of Mr Milosevic. Mr Sainovic played to them when he said Mr Gajevic's visit "shows how deeply rooted Socialist policies are among the citizens of Kosovo" and spoke of their "great support" for Mr Milosevic.