YUGOSLAVIA: ESTIMATED 1500 KOSOVO SERBS MARCH ON SMELTING PLANT IN MITROVICA TAKEN OVER BY KFOR TROOPS

Record ID: 646862

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: ESTIMATED 1500 KOSOVO SERBS MARCH ON SMELTING PLANT IN MITROVICA TAKEN OVER BY KFOR TROOPS
  • Date: 15th August 2000
  • Summary: MITROVICA, PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA (15 AUGUST, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN/MV: DEMONSTRATORS LISTENING TO SPEAKER (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. (SOUNBITEBITE) (Serbian) MITROVICA SERB LEADER OLIVER IVANOVIC SPEAKING 0.25 3. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 0.34 4. VARIOUS: DEMONSTRATORS MARCH ON SMELTING PLANT/KFOR TROOPS ON PATROL (4 SHOTS) 1.06 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Serbian) IVANOVIC: "The security of Trepca means security of the area. Trepca is buried deep in the Mitrovica rear. That's why it represents a significant point, and it'll remain so for a long time. You can sleep peacefully, but always be ready to respond on the first call and do all you can, even sacrifice yourselves, to save this city for us and our children." 1.23 6. WIDE OF CROWD LISTENING TO IVANOVIC 1.27 7. MV: KFOR APC ON STREET 1.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA66BU04DFWBICRS1HQPZQOIN9M
  • Story Text: An estimated 1500 Serbs have marched on the smelting
    plant in Mitrovica that has been taken over by K-FOR. There
    were no reported incidents.



    The demonstrators were objecting on Tuesday (August
    15) to the takeover by NATO-led peacekeepers of Kosovo's
    dilapidated Trepca mine complex.

    Serb leader in Mitrovica, Oliver Ivanovic, told the crowd,
    "The security of Trepca means security of the area. Trepca is
    buried deep in the Mitrovica rear. That's why it represents a
    significant point, and it'll remain so for a long time."
    "You can sleep peacefully, but always be ready to respond
    on the first call and do all you can, even sacrifice
    yourselves, to save this city for us and our children," he
    added The United Nations said on Monday (August 14) it would
    take one to three years of repairs before the complex could
    produce commercially viable quantities of metals.

    NATO-led peacekeepers seized control of Serb-held parts of
    the Trepca group on Monday for the U.N., which runs Kosovo as
    a de facto protectorate, to enable it to shut down the Zvecan
    smelter which it said was polluting the air with lead fumes.

    But the seizure of Zvecan, part of the Trepca group, has
    also finally given the U.N. control of the entire complex and
    allowed it to hire a consortium of mining companies to begin a
    Some $16 million of aid money from the EU, United States,
    France, Italy, Holland and Sweden will pay for the work of ITT
    Kosovo Consortium Ltd, a joint venture of TEC-Ingenierie of
    France, Sweden's Boliden Contech and Morrison Knudsen
    International of the United States.

    Trepca comprises 14 mines yielding lead, zinc, gold and
    silver, plus nine flotation plants, two metallurgy plants and
    14 factories. All facilities are in very poor repair, with
    many of them almost derelict.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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