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 Priština 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 Samardžić 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UNMIK spokesman Alexandar Ivanko also confirmed that UNMIK police had withdrawn from northern Kosovska Mitrovica, while KFOR will remain.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 Samardžić 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 Priština," 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.
Really and you explain four of the Fort Dix Six being Kosovo Albanians who wanted to kill as many American soldiers as they could on US soil, as what? "Friends"?
And since when have Serbs ever done anything TO the US, in spite of the fact that we bombed them for 78 straight days, including Easter?
Sorry but I don’t believe in collective guilt. So try your ethnic agenda on someone else. I have no interest your Balkan ethnic squabbles. My only interest is the USA’s military domination of the Balkans which I support wholeheartedly.
Reports: Russia's envoy says NATO not to take sides in Kosovo - March 17, 2008 - Russia's envoy to NATO said Monday that the alliance forces in Kosovo will not take sides amid violent clashes there, news reports said. The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, as saying that NATO officials have assured him that the alliance would act in compliance with the U.N. Security Council's mandate."NATO can't change the KFOR mandate. This is the competence of the U.N. Security Council," ITAR-Tass quoted Rogozin as saying. "Representatives of the NATO secretariat and military command have assured Russia that KFOR will not take sides." Russia's envoy to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, also said that NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had told him that NATO forces in Kosovo will abide by their U.N. mandate, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Still waiting for your Russian knights in Shining armor to arrive and liberate Kosovo? HA!
And that pretty much says it all.
And what in the U.S. Constitution says for the U.S. to do that?
It doesn’t say we must, but it does give the President the power to do so.
Mansfield man was big part of Apollo 13 rescue effortMANSFIELD -- Sunday was the 35th anniversary of the return of Apollo 13 to earth and GlobalSpec, a New York-based company, arranged to honor the engineers who got the damaged spacecraft back safely.
The engineers, flight controllers and astronauts involved were expected for a ceremony at the Space Center in Houston on Tuesday.
But somebody forgot to invite Milojko "Mike'' Vucelic of Mansfield.
Vucelic, 75, an owner of Ideal Electric, was one of those engineers working in Mission Control when Apollo 13 and its astronaut crew of Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert ran into trouble.
The engineers came up with a very basic solution that used plastic bags, cardboard and duct tape to provide the spacecraft's crew with clean air to breathe after their ship was crippled by an explosion. A buildup of carbon dioxide was the major concern.
"We all kept asking what our options were. Gene Kranz, our main man, kept saying, 'Failure is not an option,' " Vucelic said. "The only materials we could use to solve the problem were aboard the spacecraft. There were so many things we were trying to jury-rig that day. I will never forget it.''
"It was actually a fair bit of very, very quick engineering work that they had to radio up," said John Schneiter, president of GlobalSpec. "They had to make it right the first time. It had to work and son of a gun, it did.''
Ed Smylie, an aerospace consultant, was, like Vucelic, on the scene. He said the engineers, using materials they knew were aboard the spacecraft, used home-type materials including duct tape to build a mock-up system that would provide the crew with clean air until they could reach earth. Then they radioed instruction to the astronauts on how to build that system.
Smylie said that turned out to be one of the space program's proudest moments.
"What could have been a horrible disaster turned out to be a great achievement,'' he said.
Vucelic, a key member of the team that came up with the solutions, was awarded a presidential Medal of Freedom from then President Richard Nixon and became a hero in his homeland of Yugoslavia for the work he did that day.
But nobody remembered to call him this time.
"They always forget about guys in Ohio,'' Vucelic said.
Originally published April 20, 2005
So, have you ever heard of Austro-Hungary, Sarajevo, Franz Ferdinand, Gavrilo Princip and 1914?
To which you can add the Ottoman Empire, who got their tails kicked out by the Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians pre-WWI.
And later, Adolph Hitler, who got tied down so long trying to defeat the Serbs and "militarily dominate the Balkans" that he missed the window for Operation Barbarossa in Russia and lost the war.
McCain will do just as well. ; )
Unless you are a complete hypocrite you should say the same thing about Bill Clinton including supporting his deal to transfer ballistic missile technology to China. Can you say that?
So, you don't apologise for the US going into partnership with VEVAK -I take it you've heard of them, lovely chaps, they make Al Qaeda seem like choirboys- and the Mujahideen -heard of them? - in the Bosnian civil war.
Hilarious. Tailgunner Joe supports US alliance with Iranian and Bin Laden. But I take it you only support arming the Mujadideen when their victims are Bosnian Croats -1993- and Bosnian Serbs -1995.
http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm
Wonderful stuff.
And if that means going into an alliance with VEVAK and Bin Laden, then "so what"
Interesting that you're more than happy for the US to be in league with the Iranians and MB as they slaughter Catholics -Bosnian Croats- and Orthodox -Bosnian Serbs- for the greater glory of a 21st Century Caliphate.
Shame, shame hath no name
My side is the USA. I don’t apologize for us. If you don’t want to be on the USA’s die, you should get out of the USA and don’t come back.
By David Rennie
Last Updated: 1:09am BST 06/10/2003
Serbian troops are set to join American forces in Afghanistan in a deployment certain to spark fury across the Muslim world.
The prospect of 1,000 veterans of ferocious combat against Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo fighting in a Muslim country came after American military commanders were reported yesterday to have accepted an unexpected offer from Belgrade to assist in combat missions against al-Qa’eda and the Taliban.
Disputes have already emerged over reports that a powerful Serbian police chief, Gen Goran Radosavljevic, insists that he should lead the Afghan deployment.
advertisement
Although he has never been indicted of a war crime, human rights groups say units under his command committed atrocities against Albanian civilians during the Kosovo war.
His leadership is likely to be viewed unfavourably by the Pentagon, but defence officials are desperate to ease the burden on overstretched American forces.
Serbian officials described the mission, which would see up to 1,000 battle hardened Serbian and Montenegrin troops and paramilitary gendarmes deployed near Kandahar, as a done deal.
But America would confirm only that Serbian and Montenegrin officials visited Washington and Central Command headquarters in Florida last week to discuss the mechanics of a deployment.
Military chiefs at Central Command swiftly approved the offer of Serbian troops when it was made “out of the blue”, US officials told The New York Times.
Any political doubts were outweighed by the urgent need for more combat forces and the likelihood that Serbian troops would be on their “best behaviour”.
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Nothing ever came of that offer.
Our condition that Serb forces be vetted for war criminals was unacceptable to Belgrade.
Peerless stuff.
So that’s what you look like!
Glad to be on your side!
Swell. Where do you suggest we build the concentration camps and gas chambers for those Serbs who don't agree with you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.