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)
“No, he set up the situation so the next President would be left holding the bag!”
Don’t worry, President Obama will order the bombing of Belgrade right after he finishes with Pakistan....!
- John
Wow! Away for a few and come back to see that a charred body was found in the embassy?
nail on the head
just today the teacher said to my oldest kid who is ten about african americans
he stands up and says well why do you call blacks african americans as some african are white
the teacher was dumbfounded and later said to him that it was the best point she had ever heard and that she had never thought of it like that
maybe if people stopped looked and listened then they would not follow blindly the PC brigade the media and some of those elected
this kosovo is a travesty and Bush should be helping the serbs as they too are fighting islamic extremists, maybe the trip over there and him being greeted nicely went to his head
Think it’s an unidentified protestor.
They say the dead, charred body is that of a rioter, and not an Embassy employee.
Thank you very very much for that link. Please ping me if you have a ping list on these issues.
Not quite so.
To the best of my knowledge we have no obligation under NATO to invade a country (1) neighboring NATO (2) that has not threatened, not even argued with, any of the NATO members since (3) it was allied against NAZI Germany in WW2, and (4) with an illegal immigration problem of, literally, biblical proportions.
Did I mention that for the most part they (5) were not shooting back?
You are right to state that it is a European thing, precisely, a German/Croatian/Albanian thing. It is, however, totally wrong to suggest even a shred of justification for Clinton's happily doing the dirty work ten years ago or for Bush's childish rush to utterly trash the UN resolution that put an end to the assault on Serbia in 1999!
Serbs are not the only people to be pissed off, anyone with respect and / or faith in what the USA stands for should be rioting as well.
As to someone's whine that burning the embassy is an act of war - WE BOMBED THEM FOR OVER SEVENTY DAYS: WHAT WOULD THEY CALL THAT? We have no reason to have an embassy there anyway because the Serbs have no reason to believe anything we have to say to them.
Hunt thinks Belgrade and Moscow are behind this.
I believe 17 country's in the EU recognized Kosovo.
Mother Theresa was an ethnic Albanian born in Skopje which was then called Uskub. It was at that time occupied by the Ottoman Turks.
Civilian rioters? What was it when US military bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade?
Kosovo is Serbian land and Serbs should fight to hold on to their heartland. God Bless Serbia may the St. Lazar pray for her and may she hold her country together despite what the Bush Administration is doing...
The Muslim reporter, Christiane Ahmanpour(?)of CNN, rose to the top distorting the situation in the Balkans in favour of the Muzzies.
Too many have watched her propaganda and believed it.
The media will never tell the truth, but the good news is they are slowly dying because of that.
The Western powers (especially the United States) had told the Albanians in Kosovo in advance that their independence would be recognised when they proclaimed it.
I suspect this is true.
“Those Serbs are nuts. If they hadn’t massacred so many Kosovars in 1999, NATO wouldn’t have had to kick Serbia’s ass and take possession of Kosovo.”
Less than 10,000 people died total in that conflict on both sides. Which is a small peep, compared to Rwanda and other spots that we pretty much ignore. Oh, and after the “ethnic cleansing” you claim justifies this monstrosity, the Albanians burned down 200 Orthodox churches in Kosovo and chased 200,000 Serbs from the region.
There’s been cleansing, alright. But what do I know? I’ve only been there. And researched it. And written a thesis about it. And spoken to firsthand accounts.
Please, keep agreeing with the talking points of the moonbats on this deal. When your opinion of geopolitics mirrors that of France, liberals, and the terrorist-listed KLA; you might want to reexamine the facts.
Just let these idiots go at it. Pull our Embassy personnel and civilians out and watch from CNN TV.
Thank God. I wonder if Bush realizes what he has done?
The honorable thing to do would have been to close our embassy before we announced our recognition of the Rebel Republic of Kosovo. The declaration of independence was an act of war against Serbia. We chose sides in that war against Serbia. It is no wonder our embassy was burned to the ground.
The EU is split on this issue!
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