Posted on 02/21/2008 11:04:42 AM PST by 11th_VA
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy Thursday and set fire to an office after a massive protest against Kosovo's independence that drew an estimated 150,000 people.
Masked attackers broke into the building, which has been closed this week, and tried to throw furniture from an office. A blaze broke out inside one of the offices and parts of the facade also caught fire.
Authorities drove armored jeeps down the street and fired tear gas to clear the crowd. The protesters dispersed into side streets where they continued clashing with authorities.
The neighboring Croatian Embassy also was attacked by the same group of protesters.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack strongly urged the Serbian government to protect the U.S. Embassy. He said the U.S. ambassador was at his home and was in contact with U.S. officials.
More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence on Sunday, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
But the declaration by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership has been rejected by Serbia's government and the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo. Russia, China and numerous other nations have also condemned the declaration, saying it sets a precedent that separatist groups around the world will seek to emulate.
Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has not been under Belgrade's control since 1999, when NATO launched airstrikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since, with more than 16,000 NATO troops and KFOR, a multiethnic force, policing the province.
But Serbia — and Kosovo's Serbs, who make up less than 10 percent of Kosovo's population — refuse to give up Kosovo, a territory considered the ancient cradle of Serbs' state and religion.
Earlier Thursday, police estimated that about 150,000 people had attended a rally in the Serbian capital. The crowd waved Serbian flags and carried signs reading "Stop USA terror." One group set fire to a red-and-black Albanian flag.
The U.S. embassy in Belgrade burns after masked attackers broke into the building and set an office on fire at the end of a massive protest against Western-backed Kosovo independence, in the Serbian capital, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. More than 150,000 Serbs gathered at the rally vowing to retake the territory which is viewed as Serbia's religious and national heartland. (AP Photo)
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2008/02/the_archbishop_of_canterbury_w.html
Feisal Abdul Rauf
Archbishop of Canterbury Was Right
Excerpt:
The recent and controversial call by Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England and spiritual leader of 80 million Anglicans, for incorporation of Sharia law into British law will not be the last utterance in favor of Islamic law. Nor should it be. The addition of Sharia law to “the law of the land”, in this case British law, complements, rather than undermines, existing legal frameworks. The Archbishop was right. It is time for Britain to integrate aspects of Islamic law.
“I’ll defend the Cross before I defend the policies of corrupt politicians anytime, anywhere!”
Bravo!
His “stability” was built on the execution of 45 of my relatives.
clinton and wesley clark should be in the hague on war crimes
Absolutely! And why aren’t they? Because the mid east oil cartels and their servants on the left are running the show.
Well said Manc. What has happened to Serbia has been a travesty and the Western public has brought into it: fooled by gullible or self-serving reporters.
I can’t believe I ever trusted the MSM on this one. We have all believed lies about Serbia which we - or FReepers at least - wouldn’t believe for a second about Israel. Serbia is just another front in the war against the Ummah.
Excellent post.
Thanks for the link
i too think that we are on the wrong side
I am not for muslim appeasment, I am not for the ethnic cleansing which has been done by us and others to help the muslims albaninas to make a country for them and I am certainly against this policy of Bush’s
we should have bene helping the serbs and having them as allies as they have been for us yet repay them by taking part of their country away and help binladens cronies
Just what on earth is Bush been thinking in his second term
clinton and wesley clark for war crimes as far as I am concerned
Best wishes to my Serbian brothers and sisters in Christ.
Had a former sec of state on CNN a short while ago, Eagleburger, who said some nearly pro=Serb things, but
primarily said Macedonia is next for the Greater Albania plan.
For those who's minds aren't closed!
Portraying the Serbs as evil and everybody else as good was not only counterproductive but also dishonest. According to my experience all sides were guilty but only the Serbs would admit that they were no angels while the others would insist that they were. With 28, 000 forces under me and with constant contacts with UNHCR and the International Red Cross officials, we did not witness any genocide beyond killings and massacres on all sides that are typical of such conflict conditions. I believe none of my successors and their forces saw anything on the scale claimed by the media.Lt General Satish Nambiar (Retd.)
And still, every Western nation seems helpless to control thei muzzie population. This could be the catalyst for WWIII. Bush is not the only madman, but he is the leader of the free world and has allowed the immigration, legal and illegal, of millions of people who despise us and want to bring us down.
Eagleburger on Cavuto now making sense.
He is good, isn’t he? I like him.
funny how the far left are silent on this they call for Bush and war crimes yet ignore clinton and wesley clark for ethnic cleansing
If they are against war then why did they stay silent for Kosovo or to them is it alright for a left elected official
to kill many people, ethnic cleanse a country and help terrorists
Iwould lose no sleep if and they should be arrested and sent to the hague
I'm sorry for this. God Bless your relatives. I know that Tito was a murderous communist SoB, but speaking from a strictly abstract geopolitical perspective he did keep the situation under firmer control than before or after. He is rotting in Hell though together with the rest of tyrants.
I guess no one told them about the riots going on.
But why? Why has Bush thrown us under the bus? And on the 2nd amendment as well...
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