EUROPE 
Russia accuses NATO over Mitrovica
Tuesday, 18 March, 2008
Peacekeeping forces and Serbian protesters clash in Mitrovica (AAP)
Russia's ambassador to NATO accused alliance peacekeepers today of using excessive force to remove Serbs from a court house in Kosovo and warned against any escalation.
"Why was disproportionate force used against women and children, who were in the justice building?" Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin told news agency AFP at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"I would like the escalation to stop. Given that there are lot of hidden guns in Kosovo, there could be a lot of bloodshed. The blood of French soldiers, US soldiers and Serbs will be shed."
"That will mean a new, serious conflict from which no way out will be found," he said.
More than 100 people, including 63 international security force members, were hurt amid gunfire and a suspected grenade blast after they moved to regain control of the UN-run tribunal in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Riot anniversary
The clashes came on the four-year anniversary of the March 2004 anti-Serb riots by ethnic Albanians in which 19 people were killed and dozens of medieval Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged.
It also came exactly a month after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 -- a move recognised by many Western countries but Serbia and Kosovo Serbs -- backed by Russia -- have reject the move as illegal.
"The date of March 17 is very symbolic," Rogozin said.
"Four years ago there was the blood of Kosovo Serbs shed, and on February 17 this year Kosovo gained independence. So was it some kind of a coincidence, or is somebody mentally ill?"
A NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Rogozin had told alliance ambassadors: "We told you. Here we go, blood is flowing. There are wounded people. We have to stop a blood bath."
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer replied: "the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and NATO, in support of UNMIK, acted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244," which deployed the NATO-led KFOR contingent.
He underlined that "violence must be condemned", the diplomat said.
Some 17,000 KFOR peacekeepers are deployed throughout Kosovo, which has been run by the United Nations since 1999 after NATO bombed Belgrade to end a bloody Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists there.
A NATO official said Scheffer had told Rogozin, at a so-called NATO-Russia Council meeting Thursday: "We are responsible for the security of Kosovo".
The official added: "The Russians still have their own views."
Source: AFP
"Why was disproportionate force used against women and children, who were in the justice building?" Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin told news agency AFP at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
"I would like the escalation to stop. Given that there are lot of hidden guns in Kosovo, there could be a lot of bloodshed. The blood of French soldiers, US soldiers and Serbs will be shed."
"That will mean a new, serious conflict from which no way out will be found," he said.
More than 100 people, including 63 international security force members, were hurt amid gunfire and a suspected grenade blast after they moved to regain control of the UN-run tribunal in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Riot anniversary
The clashes came on the four-year anniversary of the March 2004 anti-Serb riots by ethnic Albanians in which 19 people were killed and dozens of medieval Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged.
It also came exactly a month after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 -- a move recognised by many Western countries but Serbia and Kosovo Serbs -- backed by Russia -- have reject the move as illegal.
"The date of March 17 is very symbolic," Rogozin said.
"Four years ago there was the blood of Kosovo Serbs shed, and on February 17 this year Kosovo gained independence. So was it some kind of a coincidence, or is somebody mentally ill?"
A NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Rogozin had told alliance ambassadors: "We told you. Here we go, blood is flowing. There are wounded people. We have to stop a blood bath."
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer replied: "the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and NATO, in support of UNMIK, acted in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244," which deployed the NATO-led KFOR contingent.
He underlined that "violence must be condemned", the diplomat said.
Some 17,000 KFOR peacekeepers are deployed throughout Kosovo, which has been run by the United Nations since 1999 after NATO bombed Belgrade to end a bloody Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists there.
A NATO official said Scheffer had told Rogozin, at a so-called NATO-Russia Council meeting Thursday: "We are responsible for the security of Kosovo".
The official added: "The Russians still have their own views."
Source: AFP
