Thousands of Kosovo Serbs today mourned seven members of their community killed in a bus bombing as Western powers urged Serbs not to retaliate.
Leaders of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority condemned Friday's attack, on a convoy of Serbs being escorted by international peacekeepers, as a serious blow to attempts to build peace and let them rule the volatile province.
In the Kosovo city of Mitrovica, several thousand Serbs marched to a bridge linking Serb and Albanian dominated districts to protest against one of the most serious acts of violence in Kosovo since NATO bombing drove out Serb forces in 1999 to end the repression of Albanians.
Women from the crowd placed seven bouquets of red carnations on the ground in memory of the victims."What happened yesterday was a massacre. Everybody in the world sees us but no one helps us", Dragisa Djokovic, a member of a local security committee, told the rally.
Around 1,500 Serbs also demonstrated peacefully in the Serb enclave of Gracanica, a spokeswoman for Kosovo's United Nations administration said. The Yugoslav government declared Sunday a day of national mourning.
Police said they were questioning two suspects detained on Friday near the blast site, but did not say who they thought was responsible. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The bomb, which NATO peacekeepers believe contained up to 200 pounds (90 kg) of explosives, exploded after a convoy of buses carrying Serbs crossed from Serbia proper into the north of the province.
Twenty-one people are still in hospital as a result of the attack.
Kosovo legally remains part of Serb-dominated Yugoslavia but has been under de facto international rule since June 1999.
The U.N. is charged with giving the province autonomy until its final status is agreed. Ethnic Albanians want independence, a vision opposed by Kosovo Serbs and the Belgrade government.
Countless acts of ethnic Albanian vengeance have plagued the province since the U.N. and NATO moved into Kosovo and around 180,000 Serbs are estimated to have fled the province.