YUGOSLAVIA: KFOR TROOPS SWEEP INTO SERB-HELD MITROVICA TO SHUT DOWN A POLLUTING LEAD SMELTER

Record ID: 647276

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: KFOR TROOPS SWEEP INTO SERB-HELD MITROVICA TO SHUT DOWN A POLLUTING LEAD SMELTER
  • Date: 14th August 2000
  • Summary: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (AUGUST 14, 2000) (REUTERS - AVAILABLE ALL) 1. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF POLLUTING SMELTER TAKEN OVER BY KFOR (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. VARIOUS INTERIORS OF THE SMELTER (5 SHOTS) 0.24 3. GV'S: NIGHT VIEWS OF NATO FORCES ON ROAD WHICH GOES DIRECTLY INTO THE SMELTING PLANT (2 SHOTS) 0.36 4. VARIOUS NIGHTSHOTS OF KFOR TRUCKS ON ROAD AT CHECKPOINT (3 SHOTS) 0.52 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) FRENCH KFOR SPOKESMAN COLONEL HENRY AUSSAVY SAYING: "Monday 14th August at 0430am in Mitrovica in accordance with resolution number 1,244 of the United Nations Security Council KFOR supported UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) to take over control of Zvecan plant and ensure the security of the area, this action takes place after the UNMIK decision to temporarily shut down the factory to stop the polluting activities, indeed since early June the pollution in the air has reached the senatory alert level for all the inhabitants of Kosovo and KFOR soldiers, this action was conducted by KFOR and directed by multinational brigade with French, Danish and British troops, as soon as the area will be definitely secured UNMIK will progressively replace KFOR in this mission". 1.57 6. VARIOUS KFOR CHECKPOINTS EARLY MONDAY MORNING, ON THE ROAD OUTSIDE FACTORY (3 SHOTS) 2.12 7. VARIOUS OF SERB WORKERS ON THE BRIDGE TO THE SMELTING PLANT PUSHING AND SHOVING FRENCH POLICE/ STONE-THROWING (3 SHOTS) 2.36 8. LV: EXTERIOR OF BUILDING 2.37 9. SV'S: UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN KOSOVO, OR UNMIK, HEAD BERNARD KOUCHNER ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 2.47 10. SV/SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) BERNARD KOUCHNER SAYING: "Zvecan was a threat to the women and children mainly. We have tested the blood of just a few from Kosovo, Mitrovica, some of them reached the level of 95.73 microgrammes on hundered millimetres; the normal is in between 10 and 20"./ MEDIA CUTAWAY (3 SHOTS) 3.26 11. VARIOUS OF FRENCH TROOPS (2 SHOTS) 3.33 12. SCU: SOUNDBITE(English) LOCAL SERB LEADER OLIVER IVANOVIC SAYING: "British troops were very, very aggressive against the Serb population and many people are injured. I think that five or six people, one of them very seriously. I think they're in hospital recieving treatment. I think that British troops was here a couple of months ago and it was the same situation. I'm afraid that whenever the British troops come here we have a situation between British troops, KFOR troops and the civilian population and nobody likes it". /CU JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (3 SHOTS) 4.08 13. VARIOUS STREET SCENES (2 SHOTS) 4.16 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MITROVICA, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA4KDO00VVMWBEN9XTOO4ECHSWI
  • Story Text: British, French and Danish troops swept in force into
    Serb-held Mitrovica in Kosovo around dawn to shut down a lead
    smelter that had been pumping toxic fumes into the air.



    The soldiers moved into the plant early on Monday
    (August 14), some in armoured vehicles, crossing the River
    Ibar which marks the divide between ethnic Albanian-dominated
    Kosovo and Mitrovica, the last major urban concentration of
    Serbs in the Yugoslav province.

    The action, billed as a public health measure, will also
    stamp NATO's authority on the divided northern Kosovan city,
    which has been a persistent trouble spot since international
    forces arrived in the province in mid-1999.

    French spokesman Colonel Henry Aussavy said the troops had
    encountered no resistance when they swept through the gates of
    the rundown Zvecan smelter, which United Nations officials say
    is pumping 200 times the safe level of lead into the
    atmosphere.

    "We've noted a significant increase in the level of lead
    in the air, which was dangerous for the people of Mitrovica
    and for KFOR (NATO-led) troops," said Aussavy. "We had to
    react."
    It was the most vigorous action in Kosovo by NATO forces
    for some time and was spearheaded by the French, who have been
    criticised in the past for failing to control the volatile
    city.

    A group of 250 Serbian workers later clashed with French
    police at the factory.

    The workers pushed and shoved KFOR troops on the bridge
    leading to the smelting plant. Some threw stones at the police
    who had moved in to help shut down the area.

    In a news conference Bernard Kouchner, head of the United
    Nations Mission in Kosovo, or UNMIK said they had no choice
    but to shut the factory down.

    "Zvecan was a threat to women and children". he said.

    Oliver Ivanovic, Serb leader in northern Mitrovica,
    lashed out against British KFOR troops.

    Ivanovic said that British KFOR troops who mounted the
    military operation together with French and Danish troops,
    were heavy handed and he condemned what he called a brutal
    show of force.

    On the streets of Mitrovica, French troops patrolled and
    blocked roads.
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