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Boy whoops it up in Belgrade celebration
ALSO: Yugoslavia agrees to withdraw forces from Kosovo U.N. Security Council standing by for Kosovo vote Text of Kosovo military technical agreement Clinton to Belgrade: We will be watching Cautious optimism heard around the world Pristina residents weary of war, wary of peace RELATED VIDEO CNN's Walter Rodgers reports on the celebrations in Belgrade (June 9) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

June 10, 1999
Web posted at: 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT)

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Residents of Belgrade grabbed anything that could make noise and took to the streets Wednesday night to celebrate the possible end to nearly 80 days of NATO airstrikes on their country.

A crowd of mostly young people stormed the city's main square on car and foot, amid the sounds of car horns, firecrackers and even guns firing into the air.

"Thank God it is over!" shouted 22-year-old Mirjana Jankovic, as she enjoyed the warm summer-like evening with her friends.

Belgrade and its suburbs were repeatedly attacked by NATO during the 11-week campaign to force President Slobodan Milosevic to withdrawal Serb troops from Kosovo and allow international peacekeepers into the province.

Two million Belgraders were often left without electricity , water and other services as NATO airstrikes repeatedly damaged the city's power supply system and struck government buildings.

A Belgrade nightclub owner compared the revelry to the celebrations that took place when Yugoslavia recently won the European basketball championships. But other residents were more somber.

"It is good that my children will no longer spend nights in shelters, but the bad thing is that all this is not for celebration but for weeping," said Srecko Mirceta.

Others expressed disappointment over the peace agreement, which call for Yugoslav troops to withdrawal from Kosovo in the wake of a 50,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force.

Serbs consider Kosovo the heart of their statehood, and an overwhelming majority feel that NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia was an injustice.

"As a man I happy, but as soldier I would have never signed the agreement," said a young man dressed in camouflage fatigues.

Correspondent Walter Rodgers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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