NEIGHBORS URGE MILOSEVIC TO EXIT.(MAIN)

Byline: JOHN DONNELLY and DAVID BEARD Boston Globe

WASHINGTON -- As Yugoslavia's opposition movement dismantled the foundations of President Slobodan Milosevic's power, President Clinton and other world leaders threw their support behind the demonstrators, hoping they would peacefully overthrow the Serbian regime. Clinton, speaking plainly, said the demonstrators in Belgrade were ``trying to get their country back.''

``The people of Serbia have made their opinion clear,'' Clinton said two hours after the demonstrators stormed past police lines and took control of the Yugoslav parliament building. ``They did it when they voted peacefully and quietly and now they're doing it in the streets because there's been an attempt to rob them of their vote.''

Throughout Europe, several leaders called on Milosevic to step down.

``Go,'' said British Prime Minister Tony Blair. ``Go now. Go before any more lives are lost, before there is any more destruction.''

French President Jacques Chirac asked Milosevic's supporters to step aside, saying ``for pity's sake, let's stop and give the Serb people back their freedom.''

Clinton and several European leaders ruled out military intervention, saying it was not the proper time or situation for use of force.

There are about 10,600 U.S. troops in Kosovo and Bosnia combined, as well as the Sixth Fleet's USS LaSalle command ship and other ships positioned in the Adriatic Sea. Those troops were not on special alert as a result of the Yugoslavia demonstrations, said Kenneth H. Bacon, Defense Department spokesman.

U.S. intelligence cables, even internal, secured e-mail traffic, could not match the speed of the live reports, a reflection of the power of international and local Serbian electronic media, but also of the lack of American agents on the ground in Belgrade since NATO's successful air war against Serbian troops in Kosovo.

Several observers remained concerned about the hours and days ahead, fearing that a confrontation was possible between army forces still loyal to Milosevic and the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators across Serbia.

``We've just raked in a big pot of chips, but the game's not over,'' said Wesley K. Clark, the retired NATO military commander who led the Kosovo air campaign against Milosevic last year and negotiated closely with him during the Dayton peace talks that ended the Bosnia conflict.

The uncertainty about Milosevic's next move concerned Clark.

``He hasn't conceded. He's still got a band of followers out there. And he's furiously planning his next move -- unless he's already committed suicide,'' Clark said in a telephone interview. He was referring to the Milosevic family history of suicide, which claimed his father, mother, and a favorite uncle.

Vojislav Kostunica, the dour constitutional lawyer who defeated Milosevic in Sept. 24 elections, moreover, is no great friend of the United States. A committed Serbian nationalist, he was a harsh critic of last year's NATO air campaign against Serbia and has said he would not hand over Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal at the Hague.

Still, Kostunica has repeatedly emphasized his desire to integrate Serbia with Europe.

NEIGHBORS URGE MILOSEVIC TO EXIT.(MAIN)

Byline: JOHN DONNELLY and DAVID BEARD Boston Globe

WASHINGTON -- As Yugoslavia's opposition movement dismantled the foundations of President Slobodan Milosevic's power, President Clinton and other world leaders threw their support behind the demonstrators, hoping they would peacefully overthrow the Serbian regime. Clinton, speaking plainly, said the demonstrators in Belgrade were ``trying to get their country back.''

``The people of Serbia have made their opinion clear,'' Clinton said two hours after the demonstrators stormed past police lines and took control of the Yugoslav parliament building. ``They did it when they voted peacefully and quietly and now …