Posted on 03/17/2008 9:08:02 AM PDT by Bokababe
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Kosovska Mitrovica was in turmoil this morning after UNMIK and KFOR stormed a local court to arrest Serbs.
Beta news agency says that several hundred soldiers at 05:30 CET surrounded the court, where Serb judicial workers, demanding to return to their jobs, were protesting since Friday.
They first handcuffed the men, and then tied the women's hands with ropes. The workers were not resisting the arrest. When the troops moved outside to take them away, a large group of citizens blocked the road.
The citizens, local Serbs in the divided town, then started throwing stones at UNMIK. Soldiers responded by throwing back tear gas and shock bombs.
The protesting crowd managed to stop two vehicles and set the Serbs inside free. Both men and women, 21 in all, were among those in this way released from UNMIK custody.
Officials in Pritina said early this morning that "53 Serbs were arrested without any use of force, but that protests are ongoing".
But the rioting spread to other parts of the town, where chaos was seen on the streets at 07:00. Bombs were thrown and vehicles, including KFOR and UNMIK, were set on fire. Sirens were also heard.
B92's sources say that up to 30 international soldiers and policemen have been injured, five of them seriously.
Three Serbs are also in serious condition, one of them sustained life-threatening wounds. Further 70 are treated for minor injuries. Hospital officials say most of the wounds were inflicted by firearms.
After UNMIK and Kosovo police, KPS, were ordered out of the Serb part of the town, the situation calmed down.
KFOR is now patrolling the streets, and according to our sources, has received orders to "shoot to restore order". It is unclear if a state of emergency has officially been declared. Serbs are in the meantime gathering at the city square where Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardić is expected to address them.
UNMIK spokesman Alexandar Ivanko also confirmed that UNMIK police had withdrawn from northern Kosovska Mitrovica, while KFOR will remain.
He told CNN that the situation in town is "very serious".
"We hope the situation will be resolved in a few hours.. we ask for peace to prevail."
He added that UNMIK has spoken to Samardić this morning, "pleading with him to use his influence to calm the situation".
Earlier, leader of the Serb National Council for Northern Kosovo Milan Ivanović said that UNMIK and KFOR used excessive force, sparking the reaction in the streets.
Polish and Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly been sent inside the court building, while the French were left outside to guard the perimeter.
"The employees have peacefully accepted to be arrested and transported to Pritina," Ivanović says, "but several hundred citizens, now more than a thousand, blocked KFOR's way. UNMIK then used excessive force, throwing tear gas so that now there's lots of tear gas, but people are not dispersing."
According to him, the raid came at UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker's orders, who got his orders from Hashim Thaci and Fatmir Sejdiu.
"It really is curious that the head of UNMIK gets orders from temporary illegal Kosovo institutions, from an illegal, self-proclaimed, mafia quasi-state," Ivanović concluded.
Several hundred KFOR troops are currently on the streets. Armored vehicles and five tanks have cordoned off the court building.
Drones and helicopters were also used in the raid, when UN and NATO troops removed the Serbian flag from the building.
You’re so right. Your dissent against the USA is the real patriotism. You support the troops, just not our evil fascist terrorist war criminal leader, right?
WHAT ABOUT TIBET, PRESIDENT BUSH?
And you got this where? Never said any such thing.
Not everyone who argues with you is "a Liberal" or "a traitor", but if that thought is all that keeps your personality glued together, who am I to deprive you of it?
French KFOR soldiers shoot at Kosovo Serbs
No that's a place that at least has some moral high ground to defend, although it it isn't worth a war with China to do it.
Sure, you never called our President a fascist, just a supporter of drug dealers and child prostution rings. That makes you such a patriot.
Are you "President George Bush"? Because, as I recall, that's what I said about your views, not about him.
I simply support my President and I support US soldiers in Kosovo instead of those who oppose the US. That’s why you have slandered me, because I support President Bush and the USA, and make no apologies for doing so.
ANYONE who lets his country become unnecessarily embroiled in The Balkans, ANYONE, even if he does have a history degree from Yale, is an asshat.
Of course that is foolish as Obama is like all the rest and there is no real choice. It is the shadow government, people behind the president and globalist elites who dictate U.S. policy and military actions. But the Serbs are desperate, politically clumsy and in perpetual fear and threat - thanks to U.S. policy over the past 17 or so years (and planned years before that too) - so they do queer things like the above billboard.
It makes perfect sense to me. If you want a President who will take orders from China, Russia and the United Nations, then Obama is definitely your man!
Do you recognize that flag in the middle of the two faces, because it isn’t Serbia’s flag, Kosovo’s new or the EU flag?
The photo is a campaign poster put up by a group of students called "Europe Has No Alternative" -- who are likely a product of the Soros the so-called "pro-Western" NGO's, NOT the Serbian government. As a matter of fact, they are the group who the West loves and calls everyone else "a hardliner" or "isolationist" -- so this what your policies have bred. Aren't you proud?
No, in fact I opposed our recognition of Kosovo independence, I just don’t think the fact that my President disagreed is any reason to betray my nation and give aid and comfort to my nation’s enemies during a time of war, because I am not a traitor like you. My only allegiance is to the USA. I don’t serve any foreign agenda like you do.
You're just jealous because you're not a member of Los Bilderbergers con Queso, and therefore didn't get to vote in the *REAL* US Presidential election, which we held last month.
He's OUR president, not our "Emperor". America is our child to care for, not our parent.
"give aid and comfort to my nations enemies during a time of war, , because I am not a traitor like you."
That's the point. I am not "giving aid and comfort to our enemies", this stupid policy is!
Serbia’s enemies are not the USA’s enemies. You serve the interests of Serbia, a foreign power. You should go where your true allegiance lies and take your slander of our president and our armed forces with you.
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