The World - News from March 7, 1989

The number of ethnic Albanians charged for closing their shops in support of a general strike in Yugoslavia’s troubled Kosovo province rose to 810, the official Tanjug news agency reported. A government official in the province said the traders were accused of violating regulations on the number of hours a private store must be open. The measures were the Communist authorities’ most sweeping crackdown yet on nationalist unrest in Kosovo, where troops, tanks and paramilitary police were deployed a week ago to crush eight days of strikes. Belgrade Radio had reported over the weekend that 250 shop owners were facing charges for having shut their businesses.