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UN police retake Kosovo court from Serbs
UN police stormed the main UN court in northern Kosovo on Monday, retaking it from Serbs who had forcibly occupied the building three days earlier.
- Reuters
- Published: 10:44 March 17, 2008
Mitrovica: UN police stormed the main UN court in northern Kosovo on Monday, retaking it from Serbs who had forcibly occupied the building three days earlier.
More than 500 mainly Ukrainian UN police were involved in the dawn operation in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica and dozens of Serbs were arrested.
Soon afterwards Serb youths threw stones and firecrackers at French NATO troops and the cabin of one NATO vehicle was seen ablaze.
Before the raid, hundreds of French troops in armoured vehicles, part of a 16,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, had blocked access roads to the court compound in the north of the town, which is divided between Serbs and Albanians.
The Serbs offered no resistance as they were led handcuffed to UN vehicles. Police removed a Serbian flag from the building.
The Serb minority of some 120,000 among two million ethnic Albanians rejects Kosovo's Feb. 17 declaration of independence from Serbia.
The Serbian government has vowed to never accept the secession and to extend its authority over Serb areas in the territory's north.
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