Kosovo Serbs torch border points

SERBS set off sporadic explosions and torched checkpoints between Serbia and Kosovo yesterday to protest Kosovo’s declaration of independence and international recognition of the state.

Two border crossings in northern Kosovo, staffed by UN and Kosovo’s multi-ethnic police and customs service, were set ablaze by Kosovo Serbs who want them removed as a symbol of their desire to rejoin Serbia. Protesters also tipped over metal sheds housing Kosovo’s customs service and sent them sliding down a hill and into a river.

Passport control booths were set ablaze after more than a thousand Kosovo Serbs marched to the Jarnije checkpoint about 29km north of Kosovska Mitrovica. Groups of Serbs also destroyed another border checkpoint in the nearby village of Brnja. In both cases, there was no intervention from NATO peacekeepers or Kosovo police.

Kosovska Mitrovica — a northern town divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians — has been tense since the ethnic Albanian leadership in Pristina declared independence from Serbia on Sunday. NATO helicopters buzzed over Kosovska Mitrovica yesterday.

Overnight, three loud explosions shook the town, one damaging several cars near a UN building. Two hand grenades hit deserted and already destroyed homes belonging to ethnic Albanians who fled this Serb stronghold after the 1999 war. A UN vehicle also was torched in a nearby village. No injuries were reported.

Rioting also continued yesterday in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, with protesters demonstrating outside Western embassies. The US Embassy temporarily closed its doors.

International recognition of Kosovo’s declaration of independence — led by the US, Australia and the EU’s biggest powers — appeared to feed Serbs’ anger over a unilateral move the government in Belgrade rejected as illegal.

Russia, China and some EU members also strongly oppose letting Kosovo break away from Serbia.

Serbian President Boris Tadic implored the UN Security Council on Monday to intervene. “The Republic of Serbia will not resort to force,” he said.

“On the other hand, this arbitrary decision represents a precedent that will cause irreparable damage to the international order.”

The council meeting ended without agreement on a resolution or joint statement regarding Kosovo.