RPT-UN tightens security in Kosovo after bus attack
04 Dec 2005 18:14:11 GMT
Source: Reuters
Background CRISIS PROFILE: Can Kosovo put violence behind it?
MORE
(Repeats to fix typographical error)
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The governor of
United Nations-run Kosovo ordered security be stepped up across
Serbia's majority Albanian province on Sunday following an overnight
grenade attack on a bus.
Soren Jessen-Petersen instructed U.N. police to take "stringent
measures to enhance security" including extra police patrols and
vehicle checkpoints following the non-fatal incident near the
southwestern town of Prizren.
No one was hurt when the bus carrying ethnic Albanians and people
belonging to several ethnic minorities, including one Serb, was hit
with a rocket-propelled grenade which pierced the passenger compartment
but failed to explode.
The bus was part of a regular line running between the Kosovo town of
Dragas and the Serbian capital Belgrade, Serb media reported.
The attack was the latest in a string of shootings and small bomb
blasts in the last six months and which U.N. officials have linked with
the recent launch of negotiations on the future status of the province.
"Incidents such as the one last night demonstrate that, during the
status process which has just begun, isolated individuals or groups who
do not have Kosovo's best interests in mind may attempt to disrupt
Kosovo's way forward for their own ulterior motives," Jessen-Petersen
said in a statement.
Police were being redeployed to ensure a visible presence in
potentially vulnerable areas such as schools and religious
establishments, he said.
U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari launched a shuttle mission last month aimed
at preparing the ground for direct negotiations in early 2006 on the
future status of Kosovo, where the 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority
demands independence from Serbia.
The province of 2 million people became a de facto U.N. protectorate in
1999 when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of brutal
atrocities against Albanian civilians in a two-year war with separatist
guerrillas.
Thousands of Serbs and other ethnic minorities fled a wave of revenge
of revenge attacks after the conflict. More than 100,000 chose to stay,
many in isolated enclaves watched over by a 17,000-strong NATO-led
peace force.
An upsurge in attacks on ethnic minorities since the summer is widely
seen as a warning to the international community against giving in to
Serbia's demand that Kosovo -- the so-called cradle of Serb heritage --
remain within its borders.
Most Kosovo Albanians view negotiations with Serbia as unnecessary and
insulting. They reject any return to Serb rule.
.
|
