Posted on 03/19/2004 2:08:02 PM PST by SJackson
Eric Jansson in Belgrade and Judy Dempsey in Brussels
Serbia-Montenegro has threat- ened to take action in Kosovo if Nato troops fail to protect Serbs attacked by ethnic Albanians, potentially plunging the region back into instability and sparking a wider conflict.
Boris Tadic, Serbia's defence minister, said Belgrade reserved the right to change its hands-off approach in Kosovo where mob violence has raged since Wednesday. His statement is the first official admission that Serbia's trust in international peacekeepers has begun to fray.
Seven member states sent reinforcements for Nato's 18,000-strong Kfor force. About 150 British troops landed on Friday, the first of a promised 750 soldiers. Germany said it was sending more than 600 soldiers and France pledged an extra 400.
Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia's prime minister, has called the violence a "pogrom". Few Serbs accept claims from Kosovo Albanian leaders that the sudden surge in violence came about spontaneously. Bajram Rexhepi, the ethnic Albanian prime minister of Kosovo's provisional government, has urged rioters to stop. In a poll of Serbs, a quarter said Serbian military engagement was the only solution, and more than half said that should remain an option if diplomacy failed. Thousands of Serbs marched in Belgrade on Friday demanding an end to the violence.
The fighting, which left at least 31 dead and hundreds more wounded, has proved an overwhelming task for Kfor troops, which have reportedly fled some Serb communities under their protection in the face of heavy mob pressure. European diplomats said France was highly embarrassed about the violence. Under Kfor - established in 1999 after a United Nations Security Council resolution - French troops are responsible for the area around the northern town of Mitrovica, where the violence began. The diplomats said US and German intelligence experts had warned Nato weeks ago of the danger of ethnic unrest.
Concerns that the violence could spill into Macedonia, as it did in 2001, were played down by Macedonia's national security council, which said that no problems were evident. However, the burning of an orthodox church in a Muslim-dominated part of Bosnia on Friday indicated that trouble could spread elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia.
Additional reporting by Stefan Wagstyl in Bratislava
Another reason not to hitch one's wagon to either party.
Why not? They did nothing and sat idly by while Albanians ethnic cleansed Kosovo of most of its Serbs.
USA took wrong side in previous conflict.
Gee, aren't you a fountain of information. Heh-heh-heh!
And Arkan was a Commie which means he was one of you leftist losers.
And I'm sure some of their fellow Slavs will be happy to lend a hand:
Recent Events have proved that they aren't exactly up to the task.
The Military Technical Agreement (MTA) signed in 1999 calls for the Serbian Government to have forces alongside Kfor.
It is time to honor the MTA and finally realize we need Serbioa's help to stop the KLA
No, there is another.
Cycling Challenge for the Orthodox Diocese of Raska-Prizren desperately seeks your help in retaining our cultural landmark.
All donations are tax-deductible, courtesy of the St Stephens Serbian Orthodox Church of Lackawanna, NY.
Off-line donations can be sent to:
St Stephens Orthodox Church - c/o PiP-04
177 Weber Rd
Lackawanna NY - 14218
Donations can be made online beginning after this weekend, or you may send it in directly to the church, in care of PiP-04
These are dark hours the Kosovo Serbs are facing, we need YOUR HELP!
On the "international news channel", they showed a mosque buring in Belgrade and the commentator said "this mosque was the only place of worship for the Albanians of Belgrade". The Serbs have finally had it, after all these years, burn a mosque (I don't condone, but understand) and it get's press, 17 churches and a hospital burn, nothing. I did't hear the commentator claim that these churches are the only houses of worship for the Serbs of SERBIAN KOSOVO! This is so Orwellian. I have no words.
The DC bagmen for the Albanian lobby were smart enough to throw money in both directions. Klintoon's backers cashed in on the results of the war, but then again, so did Brown and Root.Cultivation of islamic terrorism in the Balkans has been a result of throwing the ignorance of corrupt klintoonites and career DC bureaucrats at a complex problem. There were dire results.
However the benefactors of both parties cashed in on the immediate results of the Kosovo war. therefore, it will never be a partisan issue..........
Certainly not with Bob "Both Sides of the Aisle" Dole front and center.
Where do you hang out, if at all, anymore? Just curious.
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