KOSOVO: TWO YOUTHS CRITICALLY INJURED IN ATTACK NEAR ETHNICALLY DIVIDED TOWN
Belgrade, 11 May (AKI) - Medics were on Thursday fighting to save the lives of two Serbian youths seriously injured in an attack late on Wednesday in Kosovo's ethnically-divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Jovan Milosevic (19) and Jablan Jeftic (21) were working at a petrol station near the town when unknown attackers armed with automatic weapons opened fire on them, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported. In ongoing talks on Kosovo's future status, ethnic Albanian and Serb negotiators failed to resolve the fate of Kosovska Mitrovica, split into Serb and ethnic Albanian areas since June, 1999, and where ethnic tensions still flare.
Regional police spokesman Sami Mehmeti said that their investigation of the incident was continuing, and that the motive of the attack seemed to be a robbery, since a large sum of money was taken away from the station. Earlier this week in the same area, a vehicle carrying Serbian priest Srdjan Stojkovic and his family came under fire but they escaped injury.
UN-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status have failed to resolve the fate of Kosovska Mitrovica. Serbs want to create their own municipality in the north, while Albanians said the towns should be re-united and organised into two sub-municipalities.
Nearly three thousand Serbs and non-ethnic Albanians - who form a minority in the province - have been killed or listed as missing since Kosovo was put under United Nations control, according the International Red Cross and other sources. Serbian forces withdrew from the province after the ethnic Albanian uprising and the NATO bombings in 1999. Over 200,000 Serbs have since fled Kosovo.
The number of armed incidents has recently increased as the UN-sponsored talks have seemed to make little progress in bringing the two sides closer. The fourth round of talks ended last Friday without any agreement being reached over the creation of new non-Albanian municipalities - particularly Serb-majority ones - and their boundaries.
The approximately 100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo form a tiny minority compared with its 1.7 ethnic Albanians - most of whom are Muslim and want independence, a move which Belgrade continues to oppose.
The fifth round of talks is scheduled for 23 May, and will tackle the issue of protection of Serb religious sites in the province. The UN-mediated talks aim to finalise Kosovo's status by the end of the year.
Regional police spokesman Sami Mehmeti said that their investigation of the incident was continuing, and that the motive of the attack seemed to be a robbery, since a large sum of money was taken away from the station. Earlier this week in the same area, a vehicle carrying Serbian priest Srdjan Stojkovic and his family came under fire but they escaped injury.
UN-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status have failed to resolve the fate of Kosovska Mitrovica. Serbs want to create their own municipality in the north, while Albanians said the towns should be re-united and organised into two sub-municipalities.
Nearly three thousand Serbs and non-ethnic Albanians - who form a minority in the province - have been killed or listed as missing since Kosovo was put under United Nations control, according the International Red Cross and other sources. Serbian forces withdrew from the province after the ethnic Albanian uprising and the NATO bombings in 1999. Over 200,000 Serbs have since fled Kosovo.
The number of armed incidents has recently increased as the UN-sponsored talks have seemed to make little progress in bringing the two sides closer. The fourth round of talks ended last Friday without any agreement being reached over the creation of new non-Albanian municipalities - particularly Serb-majority ones - and their boundaries.
The approximately 100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo form a tiny minority compared with its 1.7 ethnic Albanians - most of whom are Muslim and want independence, a move which Belgrade continues to oppose.
The fifth round of talks is scheduled for 23 May, and will tackle the issue of protection of Serb religious sites in the province. The UN-mediated talks aim to finalise Kosovo's status by the end of the year.
posted by Marko at 5/11/2006 06:53:00 AM
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