Kosovo Serbs alarmed by March riots anniversary celebration
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - March 19, 2007, Monday

Text of report by Serbian news agency Beta

Kosovska Mitrovica, 18 March: In the Kosovska Mitrovica neighbourhood of Bosnjacka Mahala a group of Kosovo Albanians celebrated last night the three-year anniversary of the ethnically motivated violence in the province that took place on 17 March 2004.

A column of some 30 vehicles decorated with Albanian flags, with shots being fired from automatic rifles and small arms, circled the neighbourhood for almost an hour, a statement by the Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo and Metohija says.

The statement adds that UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] police failed to intervene.

The incident alarmed the Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, "who felt that this celebration of a crime was yet another in a series of constant provocations by Albanian separatists and extremists," the statement adds.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0749 gmt 18 Mar 07

Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
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