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.
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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.
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