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Kosovo in flames as Albanians renew war on Serbs
telegraph.co.uk ^ | 18/03/2004) | Harry de Quetteville

Posted on 03/17/2004 7:31:42 PM PST by Destro

Kosovo in flames as Albanians renew war on Serbs

By Harry de Quetteville, Balkans Correspondent

(Filed: 18/03/2004)

Ethnic Albanians rose against the Serb minority across Kosovo yesterday in co-ordinated attacks on them in the worst bloodletting in the province since the 1999 war.

A French peacekeeper was one of at least 11 people killed in grenade attacks and gun battles. About 250 were injured as the five-year peace in Kosovo was shattered.

The trouble started in the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, where thousands of Albanians armed with heavy automatic weapons and hand grenades clashed with Serbs.

The explosion of ethnic violence apparently was provoked by reports that two ethnic Albanian children had drowned in the Ibar River after being pursued to their deaths by a Serb gang. The river is the dividing line between the town's Serb and Albanian populations.

It is thought that hardline Albanian political parties had been stoking existing tensions before the violence broke out. Fighting later spread south of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, and to towns in the west of the province.

"It's very dangerous. This is a very large, comprehensive uprising," said Derek Chappell, a spokesman for the United Nations police force.

He added that the force's 10,000 officers in the province had been mobilised.

"We are getting reports in all the time, from all over Kosovo. Wherever there is a Serbian population there is Albanian action against them," he said.

Mr Chappell described the violence as "by far the worst since 1999", when a Nato bombing campaign forced the withdrawal from Kosovo of Serbian troops sent by the then Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, to repress an Albanian independence movement.

After the campaign, about 40,000 Nato troops arrived in Kosovo to monitor the tentative detente between the province's Serb and Albanian communities.

Fewer than 20,000 troops remain, but many Serbs still live in ghetto conditions, and very few who fled with the Yugoslav army in 1999 have returned to their former homes.

Those who have remained now represent only about 10 per cent of Kosovo's two million population, and they appeared to have come under well-organised attack yesterday.

The first shots were fired as 3,000 Albanian protesters gathered at the bridge that divides Mitrovica demonstrate against the drownings.

As Serbs gathered on the other side of the bridge, heavy machineguns began firing and hand grenades were thrown. With ambulances rushing the wounded to hospital, hundreds of Nato troops and riot police under French command went to the scene, firing rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowds.

Four hours later, 11 Nato troops were injured, two UN jeeps had been set on fire and shots were still being fired, but the situation was a little calmer. By then, however, the violence was spreading across the province, with Albanians attacking a number of Serb enclaves.

One of them, the southern village of Caglavica, was the site of a recent drive-by shooting of a Serb youth, which may have prompted the retaliatory drownings of the Albanians in Mitrovica.

There, UN police erected a road block to prevent Albanians from the capital marching on the village, where Serbs had set up their own barricades to protest against the shooting.

But hundreds of ethnic Albanians broke through the road block, marching on Caglavica. A UN spokesman later said hand grenades were thrown and several houses were set on fire.

"These are well organised extremists leading these attacks," said Mr Chappell. "They hate the progress of the last four years and this is their final attempt to destroy any ethnic integration."

He called on leaders from both sides to appeal for calm, but reports emerged from Serbia that interior ministry forces were massing on the border with Kosovo ready to intervene if attacks on Serbs continued.

"We have closed the border with Albania and Macedonia," said Mr Chappell. "But we can't hold the entire province back."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: albania; balkans; campaignfinance; christianpersecution; clintonlegacy; frenchtroops; islam; kosovo; peacekeepers; serbs; un
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Kosovo clashes were planned, says UN official (one-way violence by Albanians against the Serbs)
1 posted on 03/17/2004 7:31:42 PM PST by Destro
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To: *balkans
bump
2 posted on 03/17/2004 7:32:05 PM PST by Destro (Know your enemy! Help fight Islamic terrorism by visiting www.johnathangaltfilms.com)
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To: Destro
Once again I repeat...
Islam is a scourge.
3 posted on 03/17/2004 7:33:17 PM PST by BikePacker
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To: NYRepublican
So, shall we do nothing to protect a defenseless minority that is being brutally attacked and murdered?
"These are well organised extremists leading these attacks," said Mr Chappell. "They hate the progress of the last four years and this is their final attempt to destroy any ethnic integration."

4 posted on 03/17/2004 7:37:23 PM PST by FormerLib ("Homosexual marriage" is just another route to anarchy.)
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To: BikePacker
This is a very large, comprehensive uprising

Moderates
5 posted on 03/17/2004 7:39:49 PM PST by miltonim
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To: Destro
Oh dear. Well, maybe the europeans can send their "rapid reaction" team. Hey, isn't this under the direct supervision of the UN?
6 posted on 03/17/2004 7:40:28 PM PST by McGavin999 (Evil thrives when good men do nothing!)
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To: Destro
Hmmmmmmm, like Haiti, another Clinton foreign policy triumph?
7 posted on 03/17/2004 7:41:09 PM PST by Morgan's Raider
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To: Destro
Imagine my surpise. Mo-slimes killing people. Who woulda thunk it?
8 posted on 03/17/2004 7:41:18 PM PST by neutrino (Oderint dum metuant: Let them hate us, so long as they fear us.)
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To: Destro
WILL GENERAL WESLEY CLARK PLEASE REPORT TO THE FRONT DESK!
9 posted on 03/17/2004 7:44:23 PM PST by taxesareforever
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To: Destro
Time to turn Slobo loose again.
10 posted on 03/17/2004 7:45:27 PM PST by drypowder
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: Destro
Quote of the day:

"about 40,000 Nato troops arrived in Kosovo to monitor the tentative detente..."

Were they not at one time "peacekeepers"?

Did they not once represent not only "peace" but european/UN 'correct' solutions to an evil non-muslim cleansing of a misunderstood provence of Yugoslavia - no, Albania - no, neither, maybe Germany...?

Isn't this the Clinton legacy writ large? The Spanish/european solution for islamist terrorism?

Isn't this the alternative we all face if we allow the left to whine and bribe their way into power again?

12 posted on 03/17/2004 7:50:03 PM PST by norton
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To: Karl Laforce; *balkans; Destro; Fusion; Jomini; A. Pole; Honorary Serb; Andy from Beaverton; ...
Where's Albright when you need her?

Here she is:

 

***FREE SLOBO***

 

Secretary Albright and UCK leader Hashim Thaci
Secretary Albright greets (narco terrorist leader) Hahim Thaci,
UCK leader August 1999, after the war


13 posted on 03/17/2004 7:51:47 PM PST by Incorrigible (immanentizing the eschaton)
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To: FormerLib
How did this defenseless minority that is being brutally attacked and murdered became a defenseless minority?
14 posted on 03/17/2004 7:51:54 PM PST by Makedonski
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To: norton
No mate they were NEVER peacekeepers and they will never be peacekeepers.

15 posted on 03/17/2004 7:53:26 PM PST by Makedonski
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To: Destro
There, UN police erected a road block to prevent Albanians from the capital marching on the village, where Serbs had set up their own barricades to protest against the shooting.

But hundreds of ethnic Albanians broke through the road block, marching on Caglavica. A UN spokesman later said hand grenades were thrown and several houses were set on fire.

Proof positive that the UN is manned by Castratos.

These are well organized extremists leading these attacks said Mr Chappell. They hate the progress of the last four years and this is their final attempt to destroy any ethnic integration.

Proof positive that the UN does not see reality. They think a Muslim majority is willing to live peacefully beside Christians when history demonstrates they must subordinate their neighbors

16 posted on 03/17/2004 7:54:11 PM PST by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: LoneRangerMassachusetts
how did the Christians in Kosovo became minority?
17 posted on 03/17/2004 7:55:41 PM PST by Makedonski
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To: Destro
Clintoon legacy *bump*
18 posted on 03/17/2004 7:58:41 PM PST by bolobaby
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To: BikePacker
"Once again I repeat...
Islam is a scourge"

Huh? I thought it was the religion of peace.

Longbow
19 posted on 03/17/2004 8:03:34 PM PST by Longbow1969
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To: FormerLib
So, shall we do nothing to protect a defenseless minority that is being brutally attacked and murdered?

Why must you always twist the facts? When did I ever show any support for these actions???

20 posted on 03/17/2004 8:10:11 PM PST by NYC Republican (The GOP is Finally Engaging the Liars! Yes!!! Let the Battle Begin...)
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