Fresh violence in Kosovo Serb protests
(CNN) – Kosovo’s breakaway from Serbia provoked fresh unrest Friday as U.N. police were attacked by ethnic Serb demonstrators in northern Kosovo a day after angry demonstrations in the Serbian capital Belgrade left one person dead.
The Associated Press said protesters among a crowd of 5,000 trying to cross a key bridge in the divided city of Mitrovica, hurled empty bottles and stones at the police. It was initally thought that the police retaliated with canisters of tear gas but AP later said this was actually firecrackers fired by protesters.
The demonstrators were waving Serbian flags and chanting “Kosovo is ours!” on what was the fifth day of protests since Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia on Sunday.
The latest incident follows violent outbreaks in Belgrade which culminated in an attack on the U.S. Embassy that left one person dead and dozens injured.
Also Friday, Russia – which has not recognized Kosovo’s sovereignty – said it has not ruled out using force to resolve the dispute over the territory if NATO forces breach the terms of their U.N. mandate.
“If the EU works out a single position or if NATO steps beyond its mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will be in conflict with the U.N., and then I think we will also begin operating under the assumption that in order to be respected, one needs to use force,” Moscow’s ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said, in comments carried by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
A spokesman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry also warned that Kosovo’s declaration would have a “negative impact.”
“What happened in Belgrade yesterday is regrettable. But we would want to draw your attention to the fact that the forces that supported the unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence should have realized the effects of the move,” spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax.
Russia, which has close ties with Serbia, has refused to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty, triggering a terse diplomatic standoff with the U.S. and several EU member states including the UK, France and Germany which have already recognized its independent status.
The U.S. Ambassador to NATO said Washington was “very disappointed” by Russia’s position on Kosovo, The Associated Press reported.
“We’ve been very disappointed by Russia’s reaction and we’ve been concerned about any efforts, whether they are Serb or from elsewhere, to incite violence at this delicate time,” said Victoria Nuland.
NATO has led a 15,000-strong peacekeeping operation – known as KFOR – in Kosovo since 1999 under the terms of a U.N. Security Council mandate authorized following a 78-day bombing campaign by the military alliance against Serbia.
Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence last weekend, NATO Secretary-General Jap de Hoop Scheffer said KFOR would “respond swiftly and firmly against anyone who might resort to violence in Kosovo.”
Police were guarding the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade on Friday, one day after a charred body was found and dozens of people were reportedly injured in an attack by angry demonstrators protesting Kosovo’s independence.
The Embassy’s consular section remained closed on Friday as officials were advised to remain in their residences and avoid movement amid continuing fears over anti-Western protests, according to a statement on the U.S. Embassy Web site.
The Embassy warned American citizens to avoid areas of demonstration and to exercise “extreme caution.”
Throwing rocks, breaking windows and setting fires, the protesters capped a day of mass protest against Western support for an independent Kosovo.
Thursday’s violence was part of a much bigger, peaceful demonstration where up to 150,000 people chanted “Kosovo is Serbia,” and vowed to never accept the province’s independence.
The larger group of protesters marched to the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, where a huge outdoor prayer service was held.
Serbian TV showed someone trying to set fire to the U.S. flag at the embassy, which was closed and unstaffed when the masked protesters attacked.
Riot police fired tear gas at the rioters and lines of armored vehicles were on the streets before the embassy perimeter was secured.
Kosovo declared independence last Sunday and the United States was among the first countries to offer official recognition of its split from Serbia. VideoWatch a discussion on the history of tense relations between Serbia and Kosovo »
One charred body – a male protester – was found in the U.S. Embassy compound, embassy spokesman in Belgrade William Wanlund said.
“I can tell you that it was not an American,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. All Americans were safe and accounted for, McCormack said. VideoWatch McCormack discuss U.S. embassy security precautions »
Belgrade fire officials said the body was found in an “unoccupied area” of one of the embassy buildings, he said, around the same area as that reached by the demonstrators.
Bratislaw Grubacic, chief editor of VIP magazine in Belgrade, said police reported 32 people injured, including 14 police officers. VideoWatch as a protester tries to set fire to the embassy flag »
Nikola Jovanovic, a political writer for the newspaper Blic, said two floors of the embassy were burned. He estimated about 50 people, including 15 police officers, were injured. There were also reports of smaller attacks on the embassies of Croatia, the UK and Turkey. PhotoSee photos of the chaos »
“The fact that (independence has) not happened as peacefully as people had hoped is the direct result of the incitement to violence by extremist elements in Belgrade, implicitly and privately supported by the Russians,” said Richard Holbrooke, a former negotiator in the Balkans under former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The U.S. has received assurances from Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica “that there would not be a repeat of this episode, and we will hold them to that,” State Department spokesman McCormack said.
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, said: “Those scenes that we saw are regrettable. The Serbian government has repeated time and time again that any solution to the Kosovo problem – other than peaceful and mutually accepted a compromise solution – would lead to instability in the region. Unfortunately, this fell on deaf ears.”
Kostunica, who earlier addressed the larger peaceful rally, said “Kosovo is Serbia’s first name.” He called the declaration of independence last Sunday illegal and said he would do all he can to get it annulled.
Tensions also erupted at the Kosovo border checkpoint in Merdare – about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Kosovo’s capital Pristina – as several hundred Serbian army reservists clashed with NATO-led peacekeepers and police, AP said. Following the clashes, the demonstrators returned to the Serbian side of the checkpoint.
Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.