More than 100,000 demonstrators filled Republic Square in central Belgrade yesterday in a major rally against President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia.
It was the first protest by all parties in the Serbian opposition to take place in the capital since August last year and a crucial litmus test of support.
The high turnout will be a major boost to the beleaguered opposition leaders. Analysts have long said that because Belgrade is the intellectual and political centre of the country, it must provide the impetus for change.
The rally saw the leader of the Democratic Party, Mr Zoran Djindjic, and his long-time rival, Mr Vuk Draskovic, head of the Serbian Renewal Movement, sharing a stage together and calling for free and fair elections in Yugoslavia at all levels: local, republic and federal.
"The regime are the traitors," said Mr Draskovic. "They have betrayed everyone. They have made one million citizens beggars.
"Our flag is not in Kosovo any more," he said. After the rally, Mr Slobodan Vuksanovic, a key official of the Democratic Party, said: "The atmosphere was terrific. There was a very good turnout and we can say it was very successful. It was just one more proof that people are strongly supporting change and want the opposition to be the tool by which change is brought about."
Sixteen leaders of different opposition parties spoke during the rally, which lasted for more than three hours.
"It is very important that so many people are here. It's a message to the opposition leaders that they have to stop their eternal bickering," said one doctor who attended.
"The number of people is absolutely terrific. The result is that probably people will have more optimism and faith in democratic forces here. But this has to be just the first of many rallies," said Mr Velko Popovic, a journalist and member of the Social Democratic Youth.
Police kept a low profile during the rally. A helicopter hovered overhead for a while and small groups of police stood some distance away, but offered no provocation.
Youths from the students' resistance organisation, Otpor, had walked to the rally, starting the previous day from the northern city of Novi Sad.
Protesters blocked key roads in the centre of the capital for the rally in which youngsters waved flags of support from the main opposition parties and shouted: "Red Gang, Red Gang" - an anti-communist slogan.
The state-controlled television Politika was running a major movie marathon, showing films such as American Beauty. Many interpreted this as an attempt to keep people at home.
Journalists from Spain attempting to enter the country the day before the rally were held at Belgrade airport and not allowed entry, despite having valid papers.
Four Japanese, one Canadian, a German and two American journalists were also reported by an independent radio station to have been refused entry. Local radio reported that a number of opposition supporters who were coming to the capital by coach had been stopped by police who insisted on carrying out technical inspections of their vehicles, in an effort to delay them.
The only non-government television station, Studio B, which sought to carry the rally, was subject to heavy jamming and lost transmission totally when its transmitter suffered an unexpected power failure.