Serb protesters storm UN court

Hundreds of Serbs took over a United Nations court in northern Kosovo today in protest over the country's declaration of independence.

The Kosovo Serbs broke through two entrance gates and pushed aside UN riot police guarding the building.

The top UN official in Kosovo said he has ordered police to retake the court in the Serb-dominated city of Kosovska Mitrovica, and pledged to defend his mandate as head of United Nations mission known as Unmik.

"Those who turned to violence in North Mitrovica have crossed one of Unmik's red lines. This is completely unacceptable," Joachim Ruecker said in a statement.

"I have instructed Unmik police to restore law and order in the North and to ensure that the Court House is again under UN control."

He said the attackers would be prosecuted, and called upon Serbian authorities to prevent any further such incidents.

The storming of the UN courthouse appeared to have been co-ordinated with the Serbian government in Belgrade, which has rejected Kosovo's declared statehood and said it will assume authority in northern Kosovo.

Belgrade has adopted the so-called "Action Plan" on Kosovo which took effect after Kosovo declared independence. Although concrete measures proposed in the plan remain secret, some of them were leaked by the local media, and they include the takeover of judiciary in the Serb-controlled regions of Kosovo.

The Serbs have held daily protests in front of the court since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia last month.

The protesters have been trying to take control of local institutions that have been run by the UN since the end of the war in Kosovo in 1999. The crowds have prevented international and ethnic Albanian judges from returning to work at the court.

During earlier protests outside the court, UN and local staff were forced to evacuate after Serb rioters threw hand grenades.

The Kosovo Serbs have already tried to take control of a stretch of railway line in northern Kosovo in defiance of Kosovo's government. Hundreds of Serb policemen have handed over their badges and weapons rather than submit to Kosovo authorities.

Predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo has been under UN control since 1999, when Nato stopped Solobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Most of the protesters had left by late afternoon and the UN flag was hoisted again.

Serb judicial workers remained locked inside the court however, saying they would not leave without a deal with UN authorities.