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Violence erupted in a flashpoint city in northern Kosovo yesterday when hundreds of Serb protesters forced the withdrawal of United Nations police in the worst clashes since the province broke away from Serbia a month ago.
The toll of injuries on both sides rose during a day of bloody unrest, in which Nato and UN forces reported grenade attacks and automatic weapon fire and responded with teargas and warning shots.
Tensions had been building for days in Kosovo after the relative calm that followed the declaration of independence, and Western diplomats now fear that the territory could be heading towards de facto partition between the Albanian-dominated south and Serbian north.
Kosovo remains in legal limbo after its independence was recognised by many EU countries and the United States but strongly rejected by Serbia and Russia. Amid calls for restraint yesterday, diplomatic tension rose as Nato vowed to respond firmly to the violence and regain control of the north, while Russia demanded renewed talks on the status of Kosovo.
A UN spokesman said that yesterday's violence “crosses one of the red lines that had clearly been articulated by the UN to the leaders of Kosovo Serbs in the north and to officials in Belgrade”.
It left about 80 protesters injured, three seriously, according to the local hospital director, while the UN said that 25 police were hurt in Mitrovica and 14 Ukrainian UN police injured in another incident.
Diplomats told The Times that a confrontation had been brewing in Mitrovica for days and was expected after Friday, when Serbs seized the courthouse from where the UN has overseen local justice since Serbian forces were ejected from Kosovo by Nato in 1999. About 300 Serbs demanding the establishment of their own court refused to leave the building after negotiations with UN officials failed at the weekend.
The confrontation began at dawn on the fourth anniversary of attacks on ethnic Albanians by Serbs, which triggered the final, fruitless round of international talks on Kosovo's status. It also coincided with a visit by the Serbian Minister for Kosovo to the region. Several hundred UN special police backed by Nato peacekeepers stormed the building, arresting 53 occupiers.
As word of the raid spread, the UN vehicles were attacked with stones, grenades and firecrackers. Several were set alight and at least ten of those arrested released by the mob. Nato troops were left to try to restore order. “We used automatic weapons to respond but fired only warning shots,” Etienne du Fayet de la Tour, a French Nato spokesman, said. “We shot in the air, not into the crowd. Eight French soldiers are injured with grenades, stones and Molotov cocktails.”
The UN said that it had withdrawn its police temporarily to the Albanian southern half of Mitrovica “after attacks with explosive devices suspected to be hand grenades, and firearms”. James Appathurai, Nato spokesman in Brussels, said: “Nato condemns, in the strongest terms, violence that we have seen today. Nato will respond firmly to ensure a safe and secure environment.”
The 14 Ukrainian UN police were injured when protesters attacked a police station, according to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Yuri Lutsenko. Poland added that 13 of its Kosovo UN officers were hurt.
Marko Jaksic, the Serb director of Mitrovica hospital, said that three Serbs had been severely injured. “One person has been shot in the head, most probably by a sniper. The bullet went right through,” he said. “The person is in very bad condition.”
The raid to retake the court coincided with the anniversary of Kosovo Albanian riots against Serbs in 2004 in which 19 people were killed and hundreds of homes and churches burnt in two days of chaos.
In a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “It is clear that the situation can only be normalised by returning the Kosovo process to the framework of international law, with the aim of finding a mutually acceptable solution based on dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.”
The temperature was raised in Belgrade, where there were anti-Nato demonstrations, and the leader of Serbian nationalists accused Nato of behaving like Nazi occupiers. Vojislav Kostunica, the caretaker Prime Minister of Serbia, said that he was discussing joint moves with Russia to stop “all forms of violence against Kosovo Serbs”.
Boris Tadic, the Serbian President, seen as a pro-Western voice, accused the international forces of using excessive force and warned of “escalation of clashes in the entire territory” of Kosovo unless Nato forces showed restraint.
By David Charter
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3571869.ece
The toll of injuries on both sides rose during a day of bloody unrest, in which Nato and UN forces reported grenade attacks and automatic weapon fire and responded with teargas and warning shots.
Tensions had been building for days in Kosovo after the relative calm that followed the declaration of independence, and Western diplomats now fear that the territory could be heading towards de facto partition between the Albanian-dominated south and Serbian north.
Kosovo remains in legal limbo after its independence was recognised by many EU countries and the United States but strongly rejected by Serbia and Russia. Amid calls for restraint yesterday, diplomatic tension rose as Nato vowed to respond firmly to the violence and regain control of the north, while Russia demanded renewed talks on the status of Kosovo.
A UN spokesman said that yesterday's violence “crosses one of the red lines that had clearly been articulated by the UN to the leaders of Kosovo Serbs in the north and to officials in Belgrade”.
It left about 80 protesters injured, three seriously, according to the local hospital director, while the UN said that 25 police were hurt in Mitrovica and 14 Ukrainian UN police injured in another incident.
Diplomats told The Times that a confrontation had been brewing in Mitrovica for days and was expected after Friday, when Serbs seized the courthouse from where the UN has overseen local justice since Serbian forces were ejected from Kosovo by Nato in 1999. About 300 Serbs demanding the establishment of their own court refused to leave the building after negotiations with UN officials failed at the weekend.
The confrontation began at dawn on the fourth anniversary of attacks on ethnic Albanians by Serbs, which triggered the final, fruitless round of international talks on Kosovo's status. It also coincided with a visit by the Serbian Minister for Kosovo to the region. Several hundred UN special police backed by Nato peacekeepers stormed the building, arresting 53 occupiers.
As word of the raid spread, the UN vehicles were attacked with stones, grenades and firecrackers. Several were set alight and at least ten of those arrested released by the mob. Nato troops were left to try to restore order. “We used automatic weapons to respond but fired only warning shots,” Etienne du Fayet de la Tour, a French Nato spokesman, said. “We shot in the air, not into the crowd. Eight French soldiers are injured with grenades, stones and Molotov cocktails.”
The UN said that it had withdrawn its police temporarily to the Albanian southern half of Mitrovica “after attacks with explosive devices suspected to be hand grenades, and firearms”. James Appathurai, Nato spokesman in Brussels, said: “Nato condemns, in the strongest terms, violence that we have seen today. Nato will respond firmly to ensure a safe and secure environment.”
The 14 Ukrainian UN police were injured when protesters attacked a police station, according to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Yuri Lutsenko. Poland added that 13 of its Kosovo UN officers were hurt.
Marko Jaksic, the Serb director of Mitrovica hospital, said that three Serbs had been severely injured. “One person has been shot in the head, most probably by a sniper. The bullet went right through,” he said. “The person is in very bad condition.”
The raid to retake the court coincided with the anniversary of Kosovo Albanian riots against Serbs in 2004 in which 19 people were killed and hundreds of homes and churches burnt in two days of chaos.
In a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “It is clear that the situation can only be normalised by returning the Kosovo process to the framework of international law, with the aim of finding a mutually acceptable solution based on dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.”
The temperature was raised in Belgrade, where there were anti-Nato demonstrations, and the leader of Serbian nationalists accused Nato of behaving like Nazi occupiers. Vojislav Kostunica, the caretaker Prime Minister of Serbia, said that he was discussing joint moves with Russia to stop “all forms of violence against Kosovo Serbs”.
Boris Tadic, the Serbian President, seen as a pro-Western voice, accused the international forces of using excessive force and warned of “escalation of clashes in the entire territory” of Kosovo unless Nato forces showed restraint.
By David Charter
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3571869.ece
