Radojica
07-03-2010, 05:12 AM
A grenade thrown at a pro-Serbian rally killed one protester and injured more than 10 others in Kosovo’s tense northern city of Mitrovica on Friday morning.
Serbian leaders described the attack as “terrorism” and a “provocation” that confirmed their earlier warnings against independence for the territory, whose ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence two and a half years ago.
The latest clash occurred after Kosovo’s government (http://www.ft.com/reports/kosovo-2010) opened a registry office on the northern side of Mitrovica, disregarding Serb objections. Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister, said: “We are extremely concerned about the obvious attempt to take unilateral steps in northern Kosovo.”
Belgrade promised to refrain from reacting to extremism, and to instead maintain the fragile peace in the region, where former enemies from the 1990s wars now share hopes of joining the European Union. But Serbia’s National Security Council said the EU and Nato must “disable every future attempt to change the situation on the ground and to not allow the carrying out of any part of the illegal ‘Plan for Northern Kosovo’”.
The council blamed Pieter Feith, the EU envoy, for promoting the north’s integration with the breakaway state. “The council thinks that Pieter Feith directly resorted to methods that contradict the policy and attitude of the EU, and that he has objective responsibility for all the consequences of today’s tragic events,” said the body composed of Belgrade’s top security officials.
Mr Feith serves in a delicate dual role, requiring him to remain “neutral” as a strictly EU official while overseeing Kosovo on behalf of the US and leading EU members that backed independence.
Kosovo’s leaders also condemned the use of violence.
Serbia insists on its continued sovereignty over Kosovo and retains strong influence north of the Ibar river, where ethnic Serbs are concentrated. Mitrovica (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/609ef456-5008-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html), an economically devastated mining centre, is split between parallel administrations – an ethnic Albanian-run one on the south side, tied to Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, and a Serb-run one tied to Belgrade – that refuse to recognise each other’s legitimacy.
Mitrovica has witnessed recurring riots and inter-ethnic clashes since Pristina’s western-backed independence declaration in February 2008. Most recently, Nato peacekeepers helped local police keep apart mobs during Serbian municipal elections on the north side in May. However, fatalities have been rare.
Friday’s Serb protest, and the accompanying bomb attack, happened in Bosnjaska Mahala, a multi-ethnic pocket on the mainly Serb side of the river. An unknown attacker threw the bomb, apparently a hand-grenade, to within a few metres of a crowd of Serb demonstrators.
Mesud Dzekovic, a paediatrician, died of chest wounds, doctors said. Shops closed and several thousand citizens gathered in the main square of northern Mitrovica to mourn Dr Dzekovic later in the day.
Besim Hoti, Mitrovica police spokesman, said gunshots had also been heard at the scene. Serb witnesses, however, insisted the protest had been peaceful until the explosion.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a813daf6-85f2-11df-9618-00144feabdc0.html
Boris Tadic, Serbia’s pro-EU president, said: “I demand from international institutions the fastest and sharpest reactions to maintain peace and rule of law in Kosovo.”
:yawn:
Serbian leaders described the attack as “terrorism” and a “provocation” that confirmed their earlier warnings against independence for the territory, whose ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence two and a half years ago.
The latest clash occurred after Kosovo’s government (http://www.ft.com/reports/kosovo-2010) opened a registry office on the northern side of Mitrovica, disregarding Serb objections. Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister, said: “We are extremely concerned about the obvious attempt to take unilateral steps in northern Kosovo.”
Belgrade promised to refrain from reacting to extremism, and to instead maintain the fragile peace in the region, where former enemies from the 1990s wars now share hopes of joining the European Union. But Serbia’s National Security Council said the EU and Nato must “disable every future attempt to change the situation on the ground and to not allow the carrying out of any part of the illegal ‘Plan for Northern Kosovo’”.
The council blamed Pieter Feith, the EU envoy, for promoting the north’s integration with the breakaway state. “The council thinks that Pieter Feith directly resorted to methods that contradict the policy and attitude of the EU, and that he has objective responsibility for all the consequences of today’s tragic events,” said the body composed of Belgrade’s top security officials.
Mr Feith serves in a delicate dual role, requiring him to remain “neutral” as a strictly EU official while overseeing Kosovo on behalf of the US and leading EU members that backed independence.
Kosovo’s leaders also condemned the use of violence.
Serbia insists on its continued sovereignty over Kosovo and retains strong influence north of the Ibar river, where ethnic Serbs are concentrated. Mitrovica (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/609ef456-5008-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html), an economically devastated mining centre, is split between parallel administrations – an ethnic Albanian-run one on the south side, tied to Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, and a Serb-run one tied to Belgrade – that refuse to recognise each other’s legitimacy.
Mitrovica has witnessed recurring riots and inter-ethnic clashes since Pristina’s western-backed independence declaration in February 2008. Most recently, Nato peacekeepers helped local police keep apart mobs during Serbian municipal elections on the north side in May. However, fatalities have been rare.
Friday’s Serb protest, and the accompanying bomb attack, happened in Bosnjaska Mahala, a multi-ethnic pocket on the mainly Serb side of the river. An unknown attacker threw the bomb, apparently a hand-grenade, to within a few metres of a crowd of Serb demonstrators.
Mesud Dzekovic, a paediatrician, died of chest wounds, doctors said. Shops closed and several thousand citizens gathered in the main square of northern Mitrovica to mourn Dr Dzekovic later in the day.
Besim Hoti, Mitrovica police spokesman, said gunshots had also been heard at the scene. Serb witnesses, however, insisted the protest had been peaceful until the explosion.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a813daf6-85f2-11df-9618-00144feabdc0.html
Boris Tadic, Serbia’s pro-EU president, said: “I demand from international institutions the fastest and sharpest reactions to maintain peace and rule of law in Kosovo.”
:yawn: