http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22947716-5001028,00.html
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Agence France-Presse
December 19, 2007
Serbs rally against Kosovo independence
By Ismet Hajdari in Mitrovica, Serbia
Several thousand Serbs opposed to Kosovo's
independence have protested in the tense town of
Mitrovica ahead of a crucial UN debate on the divisive
issue.
"Kosovo, Soul of Serbia," said one of the banners
waved by the protestors. Another bearing a picture of
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared "SOS, Save
Our Souls,".
The rally was held in the Serb-dominated northern half
of Kosovska Mitrovica, an ethnically divided northern
town widely considered a potential flashpoint as
Kosovo moves to independence from Serbia.
"We are clearly and loudly telling a part of the
international community 'No' to an independent
Kosovo," hardline local Serb leader Marko Jaksic said.
Mr Jaksic, a member of Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica's...Serbian Democratic Party, was referring
to the United States and European Union, which plans
to send a mission to replace the UN one that runs
post-war Kosovo.
"We're sending Europe a message that its mission won't
be coming to Kosovo outside of the UN resolution," he
said.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244
approved the deployment of the UN mission eight years
ago after NATO bombing ousted Serbian forces waging a
crackdown on Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
As Mr Jaksic spoke, around a dozen extra police
watched on 100m away at either end of a NATO-guarded
bridge over the Ibar River, which splits the town's
Serb-populated north from its Albanian south.
"They want to gift the Albanians yet another country
in the Balkans after the bombing," he said.
"We want Belgrade to fight tooth and nail for the
existence of Kosovo in Serbia.
"We want Serbia to suspend all processes with the
European Union because that's no place for us. We
don't care about full pockets and bellies if we lose
Kosovo," he said.
Leaders of Kosovo's 1.8 million ethnic Albanians
insist they will make a unilateral declaration of
independence in "coordination" with Washington and
most EU members within weeks, after 18 months of
failed talks with Serbia.
....
Around two-thirds of its pre-war Serb population has
since fled north towards Mitrovica and Serbia proper.
Most of the estimated 120,000 Serbs still there live
in tiny enclaves and, fearing independence, are also
expected to take flight.
Meanwhile, moderate Kosovo Serb politician Oliver
Ivanovic appealed to Belgrade to do its utmost to
prevent such an exodus, the news agency Beta reported.
Separately, before flying out of Belgrade for New
York, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said he
expected a heated debate on Kosovo at the UN Security
Council.
Mr Jeremic predicted the issue would remain at the
Security Council beyond the New Year holiday period.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
