Monday, August 23, 1999 Published at 16:32 GMT 17:32 UK
Kosovo protesters keep Russians out
Demonstrators say the Russians are not welcome
Thousands of ethnic Albanians have prevented Russian peacekeeping troops from entering the southern Kosovan town of Orahovac.
Russian commander General Georgy Shpak said his men would try again on Tuesday.
They allege Russian mercenaries fought alongside the Serbs during the war and committed war crimes.
Monday's demonstration outside the town of Orahovac extended for 6km, with lorries, tractors and cars blocking the road.
Russian troops, travelling in armoured vehicles in groups of no more than 15, tried three times to persuade the Albanians to let them in, but each time they were turned away.
Colonel Serdukov told the Kosovo Albanians there was an international agreement that the Russians would take over the patrolling of Orahovac, and that they should sit down and discuss how to achieve this.
Local KLA officer Brigadier Izmet Tara told the BBC his soldiers would not organise anti-Russian demonstrations but would supervise them and would protect protesters from the Russians in case of any trouble.
Until now, security in the town has been managed by Dutch troops from the Nato-led peacekeeping force, K-For, who have been supervising the handover of weapons from the local community.
The original deadline for the weapons handover was extended from midnight on Saturday because of the large number in circulation.
Many of those Serbs who have handed in their weapons say they now have no choice but to pack up and leave.
Orahovac was the scene of heavy fighting between Serbs forces and the KLA last year and many Albanian residents say they saw Russian mercenaries fighting alongside the Serbs.
K-For headquarters in the Kosovo capital Pristina says the Russians will assume control of the region gradually, probably over a two-week period.
A statement added that K-For had full confidence in the Russians carrying out the peacekeeping mission whatever the strength of local feeling.
"We don't make a distinction between the ethnic background of troops," a spokesman said. "We are under a single chain of command."
On Sunday, the UN administrator for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, said the possibility of regrouping Serbs still living in the province would be raised at Wednesday's meeting of the Transitional Council, the body aimed at bringing all sides together for talks on the province's future.
Mr Kouchner was responding to a proposal put to the council by Serb representative Momcilio Trajkovic to split Kosovo into three cantons, which he said would maintain its multi-ethnic character.
"I'm not in favour of 'cantonisation', but I consider it is a real and difficult question if we can't manage to protect the Serbs properly," Mr Kouchner said.
The provincial branch of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist Party in Kosovo has rejected the idea saying it would condemn the remaining Serbs to a ghetto.