Blast damages U.N. cars in Kosovo Serb stronghold Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:13pm EST MITROVICA, Kosovo, Feb 28 (Reuters) - An explosion in the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica in Kosovo on Thursday damaged two U.N. vehicles in a compound housing the police and U.N. court, police said. Portuguese NATO peacekeepers closed off the area and U.N. investigators are on the scene. "We still don't know whether a bomb was thrown or a device was placed under one of the cars," said a Kosovo police spokesman. The compound has been the focus of daily protests by Serbs demanding they be allowed to take control of the U.N. court after Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia on Feb 17. Backed by Russia, Serbia and Kosovo's 120,000 remaining Serbs have rejected the Western-backed secession. Kosovo became a de facto U.N. protectorate in 1999 after NATO bombed for 11 weeks to drive out Serb forces and halt the killing and ethnic cleansing of Albanian civilians during a two-year counter-insurgency war. The declaration of independence has been met with daily, sometimes violent, protests by Serbs. The European Union is taking over policing and supervision of the new country. Serbs have branded the mission an "occupation". (Reporting by Branislav Krstic, writing by Matt Robinson, editing by Robert Woodward) © Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
