Anti-NATO Protest in Prague Kills 1 (AP) From New York to Prague to Athens, demonstrators rallied in cities around the world Monday in response to NATO's airstrikes in Yugoslavia. In the Czech capital, protests turned violent, leaving one man dead and two wounded. Both Kosovo Albanian and Serb protesters summoned memories of Nazi brutality -- one side begging the allies to do more to avert another genocide, the other comparing the bombings to Nazi acts. In recent days, U.S. missions across the globe have been rocked by protest violence by Serb supporters. On Sunday, Russian police repelled an armed attack on the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The worst violence Monday broke out during the demonstration in Prague, the Czech capital, at an event organized by human rights groups and Kosovo Albanians. Several hundred people gathered in a central Prague square, then a small number of Serb demonstrators joined the rally and fighting erupted, leaving two men slightly injured. A man in a blue jacket shot three times at a demonstrator, then ran away, according to footage of the killing broadcast by the private station TV nova. Police arrested a suspect and said the investigation was continuing. Thousands turned out for other protests in London, New York, Israel, Portugal, Romania and Greece. In central London, dozens of police officers in riot gear held back 1,000 pro- Albanian demonstrators at Trafalgar Square as Serb supporters protested outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of Prime Minister Tony Blair. A police helicopter circled overhead, and a police spokesman said officers were working to keep both factions apart. About 3,000 supporters of the Kosovo Albanians rallied and marched in New York, demanding that the United States and NATO send ground troops into Kosovo and recognize it as an independent nation. ``We cannot allow the 20th century to close in Europe with a repetition of the Nazi era,'' Joseph DioGuardi, head of the Albanian-American Civic League, told the crowd gathered near U.N. headquarters. In Tel Aviv, 60 Yugoslavian expatriates called on Israel to support the Serbs, noting Serb-Jewish cooperation during World War II. ``Just as Israel cannot give Jerusalem to the Palestinians, we cannot give Kosovo to the Albanians,'' said Dragan Dimitrov, 35, a construction worker who has lived in Israel five years. ``Kosovo is our Jerusalem.'' In the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, more than 400 people, including 30 Serbs waving Yugoslav flags, gathered outside the U.S. Embassy to protest the NATO airstrikes. Shouting ``No to War! Yes to Peace!'' and ``Murderers!'', the crowd briefly blocked a main road, snarling traffic. They also burned an American and a British flag and unfolded a banner saying ``Hitler 1939, Clinton 1999.'' About 200 Serbs marched through the Romanian capital of Bucharest on Monday, stopping at Western embassies to hurl eggs and insults. The protesters carried Yugoslav flags and banners, including one reading ``NATO-Nazis.'' Romanian anti-terrorist troops prevented protesters from getting close to the American, British and French embassies in downtown Bucharest. ____________ History stops Greek mob from burning U.K. embassy ATHENS, March 27 (Reuters) - Only history persuaded fire-bomb wielding anti- NATO protesters not to set fire to the residence of the British ambassador to Greece, the British embassy in Athens said on Saturday. An embassy official told Reuters that a small group of rioters broke into the residence late on Friday, breaking furniture and spray-painting walls and tapestries. An appeal by local staff and security guards that the house had once belonged to the celebrated Greek stateman Eleftherios Venizelos saved it from being burned, the official said. He said 20 or so protesters broke into the residence after breaking away from a mass demonstration against NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that culminated in clashes with riot police in front of the U.S. embassy in Athens. About 500 people surrounded the British residence, pulling down guard rails and allowing the smaller group, some of whom carried fire bombs, to enter. The ambassador was not in the building. The residence, a neo-classical mansion in Athens's posh Kolonaki district, was built in the 1930s for Venizelos, prime minister and dominant figure in Greek politics in the early part of the 20th century. Greece condemns Yugoslav crackdown in Kosovo ATHENS, March 29 (Reuters) ... NATO member Greece, which has long opposed the military operation in Yugoslavia, diverted from the alliance position last week, calling for an immediate end to the air attacks and a return to the negotiating table. Although it has offered NATO logistical assistance, Athens has made clear it would not contribute troops unless they were on a peace mission agreed with Belgrade. Fearing a spillover of refugees into its own territory, Greece has pledged to aid the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and Albania cope with the influx. Greece has long opposed NATO attacks on Serbia, fearing the spread of war to its immediate neighbors Albania and Macedonia and the destabilization of the southern Balkans. Its traditional ties with fellow Orthodox Christian Serbia date back to Byzantine wars against the Muslim Ottomans, and anti-American sentiment over what is seen as bullying of smaller countries is common. There is also a widespread view -- linked to Greece's disputes with TURKEY over Cyprus and the Aegean -- that United Nations approval for attacking Yugoslavia was necessary in order to give the raids the backing of international law. Eggs, yogurt hurled at U.S. consulate in Greece THESSALONIKI, Greece (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators filed past the U.S. consulate in Thessaloniki Monday, pelting the building with eggs, stones and cartons of yogurt in protest against NATO raids on Yugoslavia. About 8,000 protesters spent two hours working their way through the northern Greek port city's narrow streets after a rally that police estimate attracted as many as 12,000 people. They burned American and German flags and carried placards with angry and sometimes obscene denunciations of President Clinton. One banner read: ``Serbia will be the next Vietnam.'' Riot police were out in force to protect the consulate. A demonstration in Athens Friday turned violent with police firing tear gas at the crowd. NATO member Greece has close ties to Serbia and many Greeks object to what they see as bullying by the United States against smaller countries. ________ LONDON (Reuters) - Key events since NATO military action against Yugoslavia began: <snip> March 28 -- Gun battle between police and unidentified gunmen in front of the U.S. embassy in Moscow. March 29 -- Russia sends Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov*** to Belgrade. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev says NATO has killed 1,000 civilians -- 10 for every military casualty. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says NATO strikes are providing cover for Kosovo's separatist guerrillas to attack Serbs. [***MOSCOW, March 29 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov condemned on Monday a U.S. magazine article which said Iraq had paid Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov to help Baghdad obtain nuclear-related materials from Moscow. Ivanov said the story was a ruse to divert attention from the ``barbaric'' NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. In the latest issue of the New Yorker magazine, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying Primakov received $800,000 in a wire transfer in November 1997. It said Primakov, a Middle East specialist friendly with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, was paid to obtain strategic materials from Moscow to build up its nuclear weapons stockpile. The weekly magazine, which went on sale on Monday, said a British signals-intelligence unit intercept had produced evidence of the transfer. ANALYSIS-Can Primakov crack Yugoslavia nut? By Martin Nesirky MOSCOW, March 29 (Reuters) - If anyone can persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to change his tune over Kosovo and stop NATO bombing, it is probably Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. But Western officials and Russian analysts say the veteran diplomat's chances of success are at best limited, despite his prodigious negotiating skills and a boost from securing a deal on new International Monetary Fund cash for Russia. ``It is a chance for Moscow,'' said Gennady Sysoyev, a Balkans expert at the daily newspaper Kommersant. ``But knowing the mood in Belgrade, the chances are not very big.'' President Boris Yeltsin ordered Primakov, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev to fly to Belgrade on Tuesday to try to persuade Milosevic to agree to a political settlement to the crisis in Serbia's majority ethnic Albanian Kosovo province. Milosevic refused to sign a peace document hammered out in France, not least because it called for NATO troops to police the accord. Moscow said it would only back such a force if Belgrade first agreed. The key seems to lie here. Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who spoke to Ivanov about the mission, said he favoured sending Russian mediators to Belgrade ``provided they obtain from Yugoslav leaders what no one has so far managed to obtain.'' Russia analysts said Primakov's main aims had to be to secure Milosevic's agreement to a political deal and to some form of international presence in Kosovo, although not necessarily headed by NATO. The omens for the visit are not good, even though Russia is a traditional ally of fellow Slav Orthodox Yugoslavia and has used Cold War-style language to criticise NATO's air strikes. State-controlled Yugoslav media branded three Russian liberal politicians as ``scum and trash'' and U.S. stooges when they pitched up in town for talks without Moscow's backing. Ukrainian would-be mediators -- the defence and foreign ministers -- avoided abuse but returned home empty-handed. Primakov and his senior ministers -- and Russia's military and foreign intelligence chiefs -- can expect a much warmer welcome but they have been sold a pup before. Yeltsin squeezed a series of commitments on Kosovo out of Milosevic last June when the Yugoslav leader visited Moscow for talks that staved off military action. But Western governments later said Milosevic did not keep his part of the bargain. ``Primakov is not naive and will demand guarantees for any promises made because with those promises Primakov will then head to the West,'' Sysoyev told Reuters. Russia, which is not talking to NATO, has proposed a meeting with the European Union, EU diplomats in Brussels said. Bonn said Primakov would meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, after his talks in Belgrade. They spoke by telephone on Monday. French President Jacques Chirac also spoke with Primakov at the weekend and again on Monday to urge him to intervene, Russian news agencies said. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne Gazeau-Secret said France would encourage any initiative that could lead Milosevic to accept a political settlement. ``If the Russians want to take an initiative, we encourage them,'' Gazeau- Secret said. French diplomatic sources said they doubted Primakov would take a message from NATO to Belgrade. Britain, Turkey and Italy also welcomed the mission. ``They (the Russians) are listened to in Belgrade, perhaps a little more than we are. But the fact of life is that Milosevic stopped listening some time ago,'' British Defence Secretary George Robertson told reporters during a visit to Italy. Asked about his reaction to reports that Greece and Italy were considering starting a ``Mediterranean Initiative'' that would lead to a visit to Belgrade for renewed negotiations, German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said he was sceptical of attempts to intervene. ``I understand the statements of Greece and Italy. It is also our wish to return to the negotiating table, making military options no longer necessary, but it is just as clear that this signal has got to come from Belgrade,'' he said. ``At the same time I have some but rather little hope that such a signal will come as a direct result of the visit by Russian Prime Minister Primakov,'' Scharping added.
