Serbs protest Kosovo murders Beta

Serbs protest Kosovo murders
Beta - February 20, 2004

LIPLJAN/STARO GRACKO -- Friday – Several hundred Serbs protested in Kosovo today at the murder of two Serbs last night in the village of Lipljan.

They gathered in the village of Staro Gracko, not far from the site where Zlatomir Kostic and Miljana Markovic were killed when their car came under gunfire.

Zoran Cirkovic, a local official, claimed Serbs in the village were being systematically attacked in an attempt to drive them out. He called for support from the authorities in Belgrade and Serbs in central Serbia.

The protest was attended by three senior Serb MPs in the Kosovo Parliament – Oliver Ivanovic, Dragisa Krstovic and Milorad Todorovic.

The protestors called on international peacekeepers in the province to re-establish checkpoints at the entrance to the village.

Twenty-two Serbs have killed in the Lipljan municipality since the arrival of peacekeepers and the United Nations administration in mid-1999.

The head of Belgrade’s Coordination for Centre condemned the killings, and accused the international authorities of failing to do their job.