Kosovo Albanian veterans erect UCK memorial on Serbian church land
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - January 17, 2006 Tuesday

Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Belgrade, 17 January: The association of war veterans of the OVK [Kosovo Liberation Army - KLA; UCK in Albanian] and the Djakovica municipal assembly have erected a memorial to "war heroes" on land belonging to the SPC [Serbian Orthodox Church] near the Serbian Orthodox temple of the Holy Trinity in Djakovica, which was demolished after the 1999 war, the Serbian Orthodox Church has said.

"This latest assault on SPC property in direct collusion with official municipal institutions confirms that in addition to individual violence in Kosovo-Metohija, violence is being committed under the official auspices of institutions set up under the UN protectorate," the statement said.

Liplje bishop Teodosije, who is in charge of reconstruction of demolished sacred sites in Kosovo-Metohija on behalf of the SPC, has officially informed the Holy Archpriests' Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and his superior, archpriest Artemije, about the incident, as the church of the Holy Trinity in Djakovica has been designated for reconstruction under a Council of Europe programme.

Bishop Teodosije has called on UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] Soeren Jessen-Petersen to ensure resolute and timely action by the relevant authorities to protect SPC property and uphold the law.

The statement says that the Church has officially informed the relevant state bodies of Serbia and Montenegro, diplomatic missions in Belgrade and their local offices in Pristina, as well as [UN envoy] Martti Ahtisaari's office in Vienna, about this outrageous move by the OVK veterans and Djakovica municipality, ahead of the upcoming talks which will also tackle the issue of protection of SPC property in Kosovo-Metohija.


Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1348 gmt 17 Jan 06

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