UN, NATO clash with Kosovo Serbs
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) - March 17, 2008 U.N. and NATO forces responded with tear gas, stun grenades and
gunshots. At least 42 U.N. and NATO forces and 70 protesters were
wounded in the worst violence in Kosovo since its declaration of
independence last month.
The U.N. police stormed the courthouse just before dawn to
arrest dozens of Serbs who had occupied the U.N. building since
Friday to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.
Hundreds of Serbs surrounded the courthouse as the police tried
to leave with the arrested demonstrators. Polish, Ukrainian and
Bulgarian members of the U.N. force and NATO troops backing them up
were pelted with rocks, Molotov cocktails and hand grenades. Some
demonstrators fired guns at the international forces. Witnesses
said others surrounded and attacked three U.N. vehicles, pulling
out and freeing about 20 of the 53 protesters who had been arrested
in the courthouse. The rest of the 53 were freed after questioning.
At least one U.N. vehicle and one NATO truck were set ablaze.
Danish military police said they exchanged fire with protesters
as they helped evacuate wounded fellow officers.
"The motorcade came under fire and fired back," Steen K.
Nielsen, a spokesman for Denmark's 300 troops in Kosovo. "No
Danish troops were injured."
The clashes ended by noon, but hundreds of U.N. police decided
to pull out of northern Mitrovica after coming under small-arms
fire in the Serb-controlled part of the city. The officers
retreated, leaving NATO troops to try to restore order.
Alexander Ivanko, spokesman for the U.N. mission in Kosovo, said
U.N. staff in Kosovska Mitrovica "have been ordered to relocate"
to the regional headquarters in the southern part of the town.
The town is divided between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority
and the Serb minority, which fiercely opposed the declaration of
independence and is furious over Western support for it.
Machine-gun bursts could be heard until midday, although it was
not clear who was firing. NATO helicopters hovered above the town.
The protesters have been trying to take control of local
institutions that have been run by the U.N. since the end of the
war in Kosovo in 1999. Crowds had gathered daily at the courthouse
to prevent international and ethnic Albanian judges from returning
to work there.
NATO and the U.N. condemned "lethal violence, including direct
fire by a mob." Serbian President Boris Tadic accused the
international forces in Kosovo of "using excessive force," and
warned of "escalation of clashes in the entire territory" of
Kosovo.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pledged that the U.N. will
continue "to take measures required to implement its mandate," to
administer Kosovo, spokeswoman Michele Montas said.
Ban "deplores the violent attacks" against U.N. personnel"
and "urges all communities to exercise calm and restraint," she
said.
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said consultations
were under way with ally Russia to plot a joint response. He urged
the U.N. Security Council to take "necessary steps" to restore
security in Kosovo.
Tadic urged the U.N. and NATO to refrain from using force and
called on the Serbs not to provoke the international forces. The
European Union expressed concern about the violence and called for
restraint.
French military officials said about 20 of its soldiers were
injured. One of the French soldiers suffered head wounds after the
explosion of a Molotov cocktail, though none of the French troops
had serious injuries, the said. Poland said 26 of its police
officers were injured and Ukraine said 15 of its peacekeepers were
hurt.
"Most of the civilians suffered injuries from shock bombs, tear
gas and explosive devices," said Vladimir Adzic, the head of a
nearby hospital. One was struck in the eye by a bullet, hospital
officials said.
In the Serbian capital, Belgrade, police deployed in front of
government buildings and Western embassies, apparently fearing that
rioting could erupt as it did in the days after Kosovo's
declaration of independence on Feb. 17. Several thousand
nationalists rallied downtown carrying Serbian flags and chanting
"Kosovo is Serbia!"
Predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo has been under U.N. control
since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop Slobodan
Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
Serbia, which considers the territory its historic and religious
heartland, says Kosovo's declaration of independence is illegal
under international law.
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Associated Press Writers Dusan Stojanovic and Jovana Gec
Belgrade, Serbia, and Nebi Qena in Pristina, Kosovo, contributed to
this report.