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NATO, Germany Send More Troops to Kosovo

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By Fisnik Abrashi

Associated Press
March 19, 2004


NATO deployed more peacekeeping troops to regain control of Kosovo on Friday and warned it was prepared to take harsh measures against rioters as ethnic violence continued for a third day. At least 31 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes that have triggered fears of a potential new conflict in the volatile Balkans. Among the injured were 61 peacekeepers, three of whom were seriously hurt this week, said Capt. Athanasios Zormbas, a NATO spokesman.

In the Serb village of Svinjare just north of the provincial capital, Pristina, smoke billowed from houses set ablaze in fresh attacks in the worst unrest since Kosovo's war ended in 1999. U.N. police described the overall situation as calmer than Thursday, when ethnic Albanians set Serb homes and at least 15 churches on fire. In revenge, Serbian nationalists set mosques on fire and threatened to retaliate with "slaughter and death."

The continuing violence underscored the divisions that have polarized Kosovo's mostly Muslim ethnic Albanians, who want independence from Serbia, and Orthodox Christian Serbs, a minority in Kosovo who consider the province their ancient homeland.

French NATO peacekeepers on Friday searched three high-rise apartment buildings inhabited by ethnic Albanian families in the volatile city of Kosovska Mitrovica. The peacekeepers were trying to find gunmen who were believed to have opened fire overnight from the buildings. "The situation is calm but very volatile, very fragile and could escalate any minute," Lt. Mathieu Mabin, spokesman for the French troops, told The Associated Press.

Human Rights Watch warned that "most of the violence is being directed at the ethnic Serb minority" and called for their protection. Stung by the lawlessness that has left Serb enclaves in ruins, peacekeepers promised to respond to provocations with a level of force not used here in the past. Some peacekeepers were already carrying out the orders, shooting and wounding violent protesters on Thursday, said Col. Horst Pieper, the chief NATO spokesman in Kosovo. "The soldiers ... will not tolerate those who seek to cause harm," said U.S. Brig. Gen. Rick Erlandson said. "My soldiers will immediately and forcefully stop anyone who violates the rule of law."

Kosovo's crisis erupted in Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday, when ethnic Albanians blamed Serbs for the drowning of two children and began rampaging in revenge. On Friday, tension spread beyond Kosovo's borders into the Serbian heartland. Serbia-Montenegro's military raised the combat readiness of some units to their highest level, and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister, Bajram Rexhepi, warned that the situation was still not under control. The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade closed temporarily as a precaution. Hundreds of young Serbs clashed with riot police in Belgrade as they tried to reach the Albanian Embassy, while thousands of others marched peacefully elsewhere in Serbia to support their brethren in Kosovo.

A peaceful march of about 10,000 in Belgrade was led by Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. Similar protests, demanding better protection of Kosovo Serbs by NATO-led troops there, were held throughout Serbia. Church bells tolled at noon and major radio and TV programs were interrupted for three minutes in a show of support.

U.N. international staff were evacuated from Kosovska Mitrovica to a French military base late Thursday, a U.N. official in Kosovo said on condition of anonymity. The United Nations and NATO, which was bolstering its 18,500-member peacekeeping force with reinforcements from Britain, Germany, France, Italy and the United States, urged restraint in Kosovo and elsewhere in the turbulent region. "NATO is very worried about what is happening in Kosovo at the moment," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday.

The alliance deployed 350 U.S. and Italian soldiers from Bosnia to Kosovo, and Britain said it would send 750 troops in the next few days. A military transport aircraft landed at Kosovo's airport early Friday with 100 fresh British troops, who strode down the tarmac, rifles in hand. Germany also promised 600 additional troops for Kosovo, the Defense Ministry said. France said it was sending 200 more troops. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer discussed Kosovo with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday and warned against overstretching the alliance with peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan or expanding them into Iraq. "Don't forget the Balkans. We have learned — or we had to learn it yesterday again — how sensitive the situation is there," Fischer said.

Serb houses were set ablaze in Obilic, an ethnically mixed town west of Pristina, forcing U.N. police and NATO troops to evacuate dozens of residents. Similar scenes were reported elsewhere. A mob surrounded and set an Orthodox church on fire in a Pristina suburb. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to push people back. Gunshots were heard throughout the capital and military helicopters hovered. Orthodox leaders said the 14th-century Serbian monastery of Devic in Kosovo's central Drenica region also was looted and burned. French peacekeepers evacuated its nuns late Thursday. In retaliation for the continuing violence, mobs across Serbia set mosques on fire.

In the neighboring province of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the roof of an Orthodox church in the predominantly Muslim town of Bugojno, northwest of Sarajevo, was set on fire, causing minor damage, police said Friday. Harri Holkeri, Kosovo's top U.N. official, appealed for peace.

Kosovo's war killed about 10,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians. It ended in 1999 after NATO airstrikes halted former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian militants seeking independence. They since have mounted periodic revenge attacks on Serbs. The province is U.N.-administered but remains part of Serbia, with its final status to be decided by the United Nations. Ethnic Albanians are frustrated that international officials who rescued Kosovo from Milosevic have failed to deliver on their demand for independence.


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More Information on Regional Organizations and UN Peacekeeping

 

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