NATO faces deadly protests in Kosovo, Bush authorizes intervention

A UN police officer has died from injuries sustained during violent clashes in Kosovo. The Ukrainian officer was one of hundreds of riot police, backed by NATO helicopters and armored vehicles, deployed in the Serb-dominated north of the Albanian-majority province. A police spokesman said the Ukrainian died from injuries caused by a hand grenade thrown during clashes on Mar. 18 in the town of Mitrovica. Police used grenades and teargas to restore control of a court building occupied by Serbian activists last week in the town of Mitrovica. Rioters threw rocks, grenades and Molotov cocktails and used automatic weapons against NATO troops. More than 60 UN and NATO forces and 70 protesters were wounded, and a police spokesman said an officer died in a military hospital after suffering unspecified injuries. The court at the center of the violence has been run by the UN since Kosovo became an international protectorate at the end of the NATO-Serbia war over Kosovo in 1999. Some 40,000 Serbs of Mitrovica are militantly opposed to Kosovo's independence and, backed by Belgrade, are bent on partitioning Kosovo and taking over the police and justice institutions in the north. Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica, Serbia's nationalist prime minister, accused NATO of operating a "policy of force" against Kosovo's Serbs and said he was talking to Russia about how to react. That suggested there could be demands to deploy Russian troops in the Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo, increasing the likelihood of partition. The Serbian president, Boris Tadic, has called for renewed talks on Kosovo despite widespread recognition of its independence, and Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia–a key Belgrade ally–said Kosovan statehood was "inadmissible" and a "gross violation of international law." The latest escalation of the conflict started when about 300 Serbs occupied the court on Mar. 14, evicting the UN employees and hoisting two Serbian flags over the building. Talks over the weekend failed to defuse the crisis and the UN sent in hundreds of Ukrainian and Polish riot police. More than 50 Serb occupiers in the courthouse were arrested and driven away in UN lorries. Serbian protesters blocked at least three of the lorries and the detainees were freed. Serbs surrounded the court, hurling stones and petrol bombs, and torching UN or NATO vehicles. The riot police were later ordered to withdraw to the Albanian-controlled south side of the river Ibar, which dissects Mitrovica and forms an ethnic border. The clashes were the most serious since Kosovo's Albanian leadership, backed by the US and most of the EU, declared independence a month ago. Milan Ivanovic, the hardline Serbian nationalist leader in Mitrovica, said the UN assault had been ordered by the Kosovo prime minister, Hashim Thaçi. "It really is curious that the head of the UN gets orders from temporary illegal Kosovo institutions, from an illegal, self-proclaimed, mafia quasi-state," he said. The riots come as the EU prepares to steer Kosovo to statehood while Serbia gears up for elections after the crisis brought down the government in Belgrade. Serbia plans to extend its national and municipal elections in May to the Serb areas of Kosovo, a move the Albanians and international diplomats see as an attempt to partition Kosovo. Serbia has not staged municipal elections in Kosovo since the UN takeover and to do so would breach the security council resolution mandating the international mission. "The concern is that the aim is to further Serbia's links with the Serb-majority areas of Kosovo and set up parallel institutions," said a European diplomat. "That would seriously undermine Kosovo statehood." The EU mission consists of 2,000 people. EU representatives have been unable to go to Mitrovica because of Serbian hostility. Bush authorizes military support for Kosovo On Mar. 19, President Bush authorized military assistance to Kosovo. Bush signed a Presidential Determination granting Kosovo eligibility to receive military arms and support under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act, which require that the president determine that military assistance "will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." The United States was among the first countries to recognize Kosovo after its Feb. 17 declaration of independence. The White House said Bush's move would strengthen US security relations with Kosovo, promote security and stability throughout the Balkans and improve Kosovo's capacity to take part in peacekeeping activities, deter terrorists and deal with humanitarian emergencies.