The political crisis in Yugoslavia was concentrated for much of yesterday on the strategic coalmine of Kolubara as hundreds of police backed by the army moved to block 7,500 striking miners and to arrest their leaders.
The move, an attempt by President Slobodan Milosevic to regain control of a country in the grip of political stoppages, led to further shows of solidarity and an escalation of defiance. Thousands of people poured into the mining village which is about 30 miles from Belgrade.
Meanwhile, in a dramatic development the Yugoslav constitutional court annulled results of the disputed September 24th presidential elections, the state news agency Tanjug reported, quoting a court statement.
The affected procedure "relates to the voting process, the establishment and the publication of the results," the statement said. But it gave no further details on how the decision would affect the outcome of the polls. A statement was still being written and was expected to be published today, the agency said.
The court, the final stage of appeal for the opposition, was considering a complaint by the opposition candidate, Dr Vojislav Kostunica.
The court's statement was greeted with confusion among opposition legal experts who have yet to receive the decision directly. However, the Serbian opposition leader, Mr Zoran Djindjic, said he had information that the decision meant the annulment of the poll.
Earlier, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) had set a deadline of 3 p.m. (2 p.m. Irish time) for Mr Milosevic to recognise Dr Kostunica's victory.
Several opposition leaders were among those who made their way direct to the Kolubara mine, among them Dr Kostunica. Lorries in the town of Cacak to the south burst through a police cordon to make their way to the striking miners.
"Kolubara is our Gdansk," an opposition activist said.
The police action came the day after the state prosecutor named eleven 11 strike leaders and two opposition politicians, Mr Nebojsa Covic and Mr Boris Tadic, as suspects who should be detained "on suspicion of sabotage".
Urgent messages came from the mine as the police moved in. "There are four of us left in the room of the strike committee, and we expect the police to come in here now," a member of the committee said by phone. "They are searching and arresting the miners who are on guard. We have information that over 30 busloads of policemen have come . . ." At this point the line was cut off.
Local radio stations called people from nearby towns to come to help the strikers. An editor at Radio Lazarevac said that around 100 police had entered the mine itself.
Opposition politicians Mr Goran Svilanovic, Mr Milan St Protic and Mr Dragoljub Miconovic, who all lead parties within the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition supporting Dr Kostunica, spent the night at the mine and were understood to be in negotiation with police.
The coal strike is the most serious stoppage so far in a campaign of civil disobedience called by opposition leaders this week.
It emerged yesterday that the chief of opencast mining at Kolubara, Mr Slobadan Acimovic, resigned on Sunday in support of workers. However, the local television station in Lazarevac was unable to broadcast the news because of a problem with transmission.
Unofficial reports also suggested last night that a local police chief refused a request by the mine management to intervene against strikers.
In Cacak, meanwhile, a bundle of official candidate ballot papers with votes for non-regime candidates, was discovered. Lorry drivers found them with a batch of paper left for recycling. All ballots should be transported from polling stations under escort and should now be with the state election commission.