- Title: YUGOSLAVIA: AROUND 20,000 KOSOVO ALBANIANS MARCH ON STRIFE-TORN CITY OF MITROVICA
- Date: 21st February 2000
- Summary: PRISTINA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (FEBRUARY 21, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF KOSOVO ETHNIC ALBANIAN PEOPLE MARCHING WITH ALBANIAN FLAGS (3 SHOTS) 0.14 2. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) MAN MARCHING, VEQIR REDINCA, SAYING: "We will go as far as Belgrade if we have to - they did not solve the situation in Mitrovica - so that is why we, the youth, are heading there." 0.32 3. WS: KFOR TROOPS GUARDING THE MARCH 0.37 BETWEEN PRISTINA AND MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (FEBRUARY 21, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4. VARIOUS: ETHNIC ALBANIANS MARCH ON THE ROAD OUT OF PRISTINA AND TO MITROVICA (3 SHOTS) 0.51 5. LV: HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD 0.55 6. MV: UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) POLICE CARS ON THE ROAD 1.00 7. SV: BRITISH KFOR RED CROSS VAN 1.06 MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (FEBRUARY 21, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. WS: BRIDGE 1.11 9. LV: KFOR TROOPS ON SOUTHERN, ALBANIAN SIDE OF THE RIVER IBAR 1.16 10. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH KFOR CAPTAIN JOE BUTTERFIELD SAYING: "We've resumed the search operation which we started yesterday. We've taken up where we left off and the aim of this is to improve and preserve the security environment for everyone who lives in Mitrovica." 1.26 11. SV: KFOR SOLDIER CHECKING MAN IN THE STREET 1.31 12. MV/SV: KFOR SOLDIERS ON NORTHERN SERB SIDE OF THE RIVER IBAR CHECKING CAR AND DRIVER (2 SHOTS) 1.40 13. MV: STANDOFF BETWEEN MAN IN THE STREET AND KFOR SOLDIER 1.51 14. SV: KFOR SOLDIERS STOPPING CARS TO SEARCH THEM 1.58 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th March 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PRISTINA, ON THE ROAD TO MITROVICA AND MITROVICA, YUGOSLAVIA
- City:
- Country: Yugoslavia
- Reuters ID: LVA50496GRRQUXMGTSRZFUD31ZYP
- Story Text: Around 20,000 Kosovo Albanians have marched on the
strife-torn city of Mitrovica to protest against its division
into Serb and Albanian- dominated sectors.
In Mitrovica itself, a crowd of Kosovo Albanians has broken
through a security cordon made up of peacekeeping soldiers and
converged in front of the bridge over a river which divides
the Albanian and Serb districts.
The marchers gathered in the provincial capital
Pristina and set off in the morning on Monday (February 21) in
freezing weather for Mitrovica, 40 km (25 miles) to the
northwest.
Forming a column several km (miles) long on the road to
Mitrovica, they blocked all traffic.Two helicopters of the
NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force hovered overhead.
Demonstrators carried banners protesting against the
city's ethnic division."No cantonisation and no enclaves,"
said one.
Marchers also carried flags of NATO, the United States,
Britain, Germany and Albania.
The march was escorted by a few vehicles of KFOR and of
the U.N.police mission in Kosovo, now under international
rule after NATO's air war last forced Yugoslav forces to
withdraw.
KFOR said only a small delegation would be allowed into
the town for security reasons.
The march took place as KFOR was winding down a
large-scale search for weapons and paramilitary criminals in
Mitrovica which started the previous day.
On Sunday, (February 20) KFOR soldiers conducting the
search operations came under attack from a couple of hundred
people during a raid on apartments in the Serb-dominated
district of the industrial city.
"We've resumed the search operation which we started
yesterday.We've taken up where we left off and the aim of
this is to improve and preserve the security environment for
everyone who lives in Mitrovica," said British KFOR soldier
Joe Butterfield.
The NATO search has so far yielded a provisional haul of
12 AK-47 weapons, six rifles, two pistols, eight blocks of
plastic explosive, 25 loaded magazines, a large amount of
other ammunition, four grenades and one machinegun, KFOR said.
In Mitrovica itself, the situation was tense.A crowd of
Kosovo Albanians broke through a security cordon made up of a
few peacekeeping soldiers and converged in front of the bridge
over a river which divides the Albanian and Serb districts.
The crowd waved Albanian flags and jeered at Serbs
gathered at the other end of the bridge.KFOR soldiers and
armoured personnel carriers stood between them.
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