
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280325
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A=5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA                                LENGTH: Short

MYSTERY ILLNESS BLAMED ON ALBANIANS' `HYSTERIA'

A doctor on an international team sent to investigate a mysterious illness in Kosovo province Tuesday blamed mass hysteria among ethnic Albanians for the ailment, which has led to renewed unrest.

Also Tuesday, news reports said Serbian authorities administering Kosovo fired 100 ethnic Albanian police for allegedly allowing Albanian nationalists to attack members of the Slav minority.

Ethnic Albanians have accused Slavs of causing the illness by poisoning ethnic Albanian students.

The U.S.-based Helsinki Watch human rights organization appointed an international panel of doctors to assess the situation. A Dutch member of the team said the group found no evidence of poisoning or epidemics, attributing the mysterious incident to "mass hysteria."

by CNB