- Title: YUGOSLAVIA: SERBS DEMAND PROTECTION AFTER NEW ERUPTION OF ETHNIC VIOLENCE.
- Date: 7th February 2000
- Summary: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (FEBRUARY 7, 2000) 1. GV/MV/CU: SERBIAN DEMONSTRATORS AT RALLY (7 SHOTS) 0.35 2. GV: KFOR SOLDIERS 0.40 3. LV: SERBIAN COMMUNITY LEADER OLIVER IVANOVIC ADDRESSING RALLY 0.44 4. GV: DEMONSTRATORS 0.47 5. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IVANOVIC SAYING: "This is very dangerous for us. This is only one place for the Serbs and we must keep this place, absolutely" 0.55 6. GV: KFOR SOLDIERS 0.59 7. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) IVANOVIC SAYING: "Many Serbs live in the south, you know, and we are very, very sad about those Serbs and we try to keep those Serbs in the south. If we separate Kosovo, you know, we cannot succeed to do it. We are against the separation" 1.11 8. GV: STREET SCENES (2 SHOTS) 1.21 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd February 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA
- City:
- Country: Yugoslavia
- Reuters ID: LVABEGRZKUV8EK56P9PVSHBD4O8D
- Story Text: Furious Kosovo Serbs have demanded the return of Serb
and federal Yugoslav forces to their province after an
eruption of violence in and around the flashpoint city of
Mitrovica which has left at least 10 people dead and more than
20 wounded in less than a week.
Speakers at a protest rally in the Serb-dominated
northern half of Mitrovica on Monday (February 7) criticised
ethnic Albanians and the international authorities and
demanded better protection.
Their calls came after one of the most serious outbreaks
of violence since NATO-led peacekeepers and the United Nations
moved into the province last June, following the withdrawal of
Serb forces driven out by NATO bombing.
Serbs at the rally insisted they were the people most in
need of protection.
They called for the establishment of their own protection
corps and more recruits to a group they call "bridgekeepers",
who patrol the northern side of the main bridge.
They say they are there simply to prevent trouble.
Albanians say they prevent members of their community who
lived in northern Mitrovica from returning to their homes.
Oliver Ivanovic, the head of Mitrovica's Serb National
Council of local leaders and widely seen as the key Serb
leader in the city, scoffed at an Albanian suggestion that
British soldiers should come to Mitrovica to improve security.
He said the situation was very dangerous for Serbs and he
was against the division of Kosovo.
A rocket attack on a U.N.bus carrying Serbs marked the
start of the violent upsurge last Wednesday.Two Serbs were
killed and three were wounded.
The next night violence erupted in northern Mitrovica.A
Serb bar was targetted in a grenade attack which wounded 15
people.Serbs went on a rampage of shootings, grenade attacks
and arson which killed at least eight people.
Albanians say all the dead were members of their
community, but international officials say two were ethnic
Turks.
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