BELGRADE, Serbia: Protesters throwing stones and bottles clashed with baton-wielding riot police Sunday in Belgrade after several thousand Serbian nationalist supporters of jailed war-crimes suspect Ratko Mladic rallied outside the parliament building to demand his release. Rioters overturned garbage containers, broke traffic lights and set off firecrackers as they rampaged through downtown. Cordons of riot police tried to block their advances, and skirmishes took place in several locations in the center of the capital. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests. The clashes began after a rally that drew at least 7,000 demonstrators, many singing nationalist songs and carrying banners honoring Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander. Some chanted right-wing slogans and a few gave Nazi salutes. The demonstrators, who consider Mladic a hero, said Serbia should not hand him over to the UN war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands. More than 3,000 riot police were deployed around government buildings and Western embassies, fearing that the demonstration could turn violent.
