Kosovo peace process crisis by United Nations News / ABC News Online 10:56pm 18th Mar, 2004   18 March , 2004    "Kosovo peace process in crisis". (ABC News Online: The World Today: Reporter: Michael Vincent).    HAMISH ROBERTSON: Although Kosovo has been out of the headlines for some time, many of the territory's problems remain unresolved.    In the worst violence since NATO and the United Nations took control of the province, which technically is still part of Serbia, clashes between local Serbs and Albanians have left up to 31 people dead. At least one of those killed was shot by a UN police officer trying to defend herself.    The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an end to the ethnic violence which has seen several grenade attacks and shootings.    But as Michael Vincent reports, analysts believe there are hardline extremists on both sides who want to continue the war.    MICHAEL VINCENT: Ethnic violence has thrown the Kossovo peace process into crisis. Ambulances have spent the day carrying away the dead and wounded from clashes between Albanians and Serbs. The centre point for much of the violence has been the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica    There 3,000 Albanians attacked the UN police station before crossing the city's main bridge and heading into the Serbian side. In the chaos that followed there were exchanges of machinegun fire and hand-grenades. The UN appeared helpless to stop the violence.    KFOR spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel James Moran.    JAMES MORAN: Well, we have used rubber bullets and fired some tear gas to help the situation but we're still trying to get it under control and we have not done that at this point.    MICHAEL VINCENT: At least 10 KFOR soldiers have been wounded, 2 seriously, there are unconfirmed reports hundreds of Albanians and Serbians have been taken to hospital. The UN took control of Kosovo in 1999 and this is the worst violence in two years.    UN Police Director for Information in Kosovo Derek Chappell.    DEREK CHAPPELL: In the past weeks there have been a number of incidents that have escalated tension. We had a hand grenade attack on the residence of President of Kosovo last Friday, we have had four or five hand grenades thrown on the streets of Pristina, we had a bomb left on the front of UN headquarters two weeks ago and a Serbian youth was shot in a drive-by shooting this last Monday evening.    These incidents have tended to create a feeling of fear and uncertainty and last night we had three Albanian youngsters who drowned in a river, allegedly as a result of being chased into the river by Serbs, and this seems to have been the catalyst that finally drove people into the streets and we saw this violence that erupted today.    MICHAEL VINCENT: Albanians want the province to become independent, the Serbian Government has vowed to stop that happening. Those Serbs who live in Kosovo do so in protected enclaves, many of which have been attacked overnight, and family homes have been set alight    Author of Kosovo and International Society and now lecturer at the University of Queensland, Dr Alex Bellamy says the situation hasn't been helped by the recent election of a nationalist government in Serbia.    ALEX BELLAMY: This has undoubtedly raised tensions in Kosovo, and made Kosovo Albanians more wary and Kosovo Serbs may be a little more confident in their sort of nationalism.    We've also seen the start of negotiations between Kosovo Albanians and the Serbian government for the first time, and again there are extremists in both camps who are unhappy with the idea of negotiations from the Serbian point of view, because there are still a large number of Kosovo Serbs who don't want to negotiate any form of autonomy or independence for Kosovo, and from the Albanian point of view there are a significant number of Albanians, Albanian radicals linked to the KLA, who again, don't like the idea of doing any negotiation with the Serbian government at all.    MICHAEL VINCENT: Do you see an end to this violence in the short term?    ALEX BELLAMY: I do, I think that whilst it's a major setback, I do think it's important not to blow it out of proportion. First of all, most of the violence has been centred in Mitrovica and Mitrovica has been a long standing thorn in the side of KFOR.    This has been the area where there have been the most flashpoints since 1999 and what we know from 1999 is that a lot of Serbian radicals and a lot of people with background in Bosnia and Croatia made their home in Mitrovica, so this has been a flashpoint before, there've been riots in Mitrovica before.    MICHAEL VINCENT: Do you believe there are some people that still want to continue the old war?    ALEX BELLAMY: Undoubtedly, on both sides there are those who are prepared to do so if they don't get what they want.    19 March, 2004    Kosovo clashes 'ethnic cleansing' (BBC World News)    The Nato commander in overall charge of Kosovo has likened the recent violence in the province - in which 31 people have died - to ethnic cleansing. Admiral Gregory Johnson said almost 1,000 Serbs had been driven from their homes after attacks by ethnic Albanians It is the worst outbreak of violence since Nato forces entered Kosovo in 1999 to end years of ethnic unrest.    Meanwhile, reinforcements for Nato peacekeepers have started arriving in Kosovo following the deadly clashes. Admiral Johnson also said he believed that some of the trouble had been orchestrated. He added that Nato peacekeepers were investigating whether the violence had been organised by ethnic Albanian militants.    Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has himself described the attacks as "planned in advance and co-ordinated... this was an attempted pogrom and ethnic cleansing" against Kosovo's Serbs.    Serbia has also has accused both the UN and Nato of failing to protect Kosovo's Serbs. On Friday UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the decision to send Nato reinforcements had been taken in view of the worsening security situation since trouble erupted earlier in the week. Mr Annan said it showed that, despite the progress, communities in Kosovo were not ready to accept multi-ethnicity.    BBC correspondent Nick Thorpe says the atmosphere in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica - where violence began on Wednesday - remains one of fear and apprehension. " The situation is calm, but very volatile... and could escalate any minute" French officer in Kosovo    Groups of Serbs have gathered near each of the three bridges which span the River Ibar which Nato peacekeepers have blocked off. Their numbers could swell in a matter of moments if there is any sign of attack from the Albanian side, our correspondent says. However, despite occasional shots and explosions there has been no repeat the violence, although some Serbs admit to having guns which they say they will use if necessary to defend their part of the city, our correspondent adds.    Trouble first erupted in the divided city of Mitrovica after the deaths by drowning of two Albanian children, which were blamed on members of Kosovo's small Serbian minority. Mobs of angry Albanians set alight Serbian Orthodox churches and Serb-owned homes across Kosovo on Thursday. On Friday Nato troops in Mitrovica shot and killed a sniper who fired at peacekeepers from a block of flats chiefly housing ethnic Albanians in the northern half of the town, Nato spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jim Moran said. Reports quoting Serbian sources said the sniper was ethnic Albanian.    Earlier French forces searched blocks of flats near the river Ibar early in pursuit of gunmen after reports of attacks overnight. "The situation is calm but very volatile, very fragile and could escalate any minute," one French officer told the Associated Press.    In Serbia itself on Friday thousands of people demonstrated peacefully in central Belgrade following a government call to show solidarity with Serbs living in Kosovo. Carrying Serbian flags, pictures of Kosovo monasteries and religious icons, the crowds chanted "We're not giving Kosovo away" and "Kosovo is Serbia".    Peacekeepers sent    The first extra contingent of 750 peacekeeping soldiers being sent by the UK arrived in the region's capital Pristina overnight. Germany's Defence Minister Peter Struck said on Friday that a further 600 peacekeepers were being sent to join German forces in Kosovo, with deployment starting on Saturday. France also says it is sending about 400 more troops immediately. Denmark has pledged 100 more.    18 March 2004    The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo issued a new appeal today for an immediate halt to violence that has already killed 22 people and injured 500 more in the worst unrest to hit the ethnically divided province since the world body took over its administration nearly five years ago.    “Let no one be mistaken. This violence is destroying Kosovo’s future, for every day that the violence goes on, Kosovo loses valuable friends,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Harri Holkeri said in a statement in Pristina, the capital, as clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs continued into a second day.    Mr. Holkeri, who heads the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), called on politicians and media who incited or supported the violence to refrain immediately from making inflammatory statements ahead of a meeting later today of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation.    “Yesterday Kosovo saw the worst possible violence since UNMIK and KFOR (the international security force) came here five years ago,” he said. “We are deeply shocked, saddened and disturbed by these events and call for an immediate halt to all violence and protests, some of which are on going today.”    Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999 when NATO forced the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops following fighting between Albanians and Serbs. Eleven KFOR soldiers and 61 policemen were among yesterday’s injured.    “The violence was the worst possible message that Kosovo could send to the international community,” Mr. Holkeri said. “The whole world is watching how the people of Kosovo behave with each other and with the international community five years after the international community at great expense intervened to stop the violence.”    17 March 2004 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for an immediate halt to the violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in United Nations-administered Kosovo, which has reportedly left at least seven people dead and hundreds injured amid repeated bursts of automatic gunfire and explosions.    The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said a large riot erupted after a crowd of some 3,000 people gathered in the south of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, attacked the UNMIK police station and regional headquarters, then marched across a bridge and attacked Serbs in the north.    It added that the situation was far from stable and there were reports of clashes elsewhere in Kosovo, which has been under UN administration since 1999 when NATO confirmed the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the province following fighting between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.    In a statement issued by his spokesman in New York, Mr. Annan strongly condemned the violence, which also hit the towns of Lipljan, Pec, and Gnjilane, and said preliminary reports indicated that several KFOR international security force soldiers and UNMIK civilian police were among the casualties.    "He urges all parties involved to bring an immediate halt to the violence, which jeopardizes the stability of Kosovo and the security of all its people," the statement added.    Expressing full support for the efforts of his Special Representative and the rest of the international community in Kosovo, Mr. Annan called on local authorities to help return the situation to normal, and bring to justice those responsible for the violence.    Declaring "this is a dark day for Kosovo," Special Representative Harri Holkeri issued a statement in Pristina, the capital, calling on people to return to their homes and allow the police and KFOR to do their jobs and provide security for everyone.    "There is no excuse for further violence," he said. "It is essential that people remain calm and do not add to the tension and general insecurity.
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