United Nations police cordon off streets in central Pristina, Kosovo on Saturday.
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -- At least three blasts rocked the center of Kosovo's capital on Saturday, and one targeted the U.N. mission headquarters.
An Associated Press reporter saw at least three U.N. vehicles set ablaze in the parking lot of the U.N. mission headquarters in Pristina.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries after at least three near-simultaneous blasts, said Hua Jiang, chief U.N. spokeswoman.
The second blast happened near the building of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, which is some 100 meters (100 yards) down the road from the U.N. compound.
The third blast went off near the Kosovo government building which also houses the province's parliament and damaged it slightly, said Jiang. She did not say what caused the blasts.
Police sealed off the areas after the explosions.
Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. mission and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since 1999 after the alliance's bombing of Serb forces waging a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.
The province remains disputed between its ethnic Albanian majority who want it to become independent, and Serbs demanding it remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced former Yugoslavia.
Talks to determine its future status will take place later this year, if the province reaches standards including those on democracy, rights of minorities, and rule of law.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month appointed a senior Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide to evaluate progress and report back to him by the end of summer. Eide arrived in Kosovo on Friday, on his second fact-finding visit since his appointment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Incidents like this doesn't come unexpected. I hope this won't be the prelude for more vicous actions by extremists.
By the way it needs a quite high degree of coordination and (military) skills to detonate explosives almost simultaneously.
I don't wanna point my finger at anyone until there are no further facts but it is concerning anyway.
Heads up with the continuos quick updates
Cui bono indeed if nothing important was actually blown up?
Was it really destabilization, or someone trying to portray an attempt at destabilization, or just some individual expressing his anger at the international powers that be, or part a warning (that we havn't seen the text part of)?
What is "Near simultaneously" - is this seconds or minutes between blasts? Not another case of grenades being thrown from passing motorcycles?
Most likely it was an angry albanian trying to get the world to blame the serbs about the explosions.
I remeber Slobo saying Albanians are killing their own children, brothers sisters, fathers, mothers to make the world think the Serbs did the killing. The above poster continues with that logic. What can a Serb do it comes naturally to them.
Daci said the other day that Kosova should get into Guiness' book of records for having 20+ intellegence services operating and neither of them is domestical.
I guess it's not strange that these explosions keep occuring then.
I hope that the two new ministries that will be formed will eventually prevent these incidents from happening. I hope so...
Tosi
Sweden
Im begining to wonder if the reports comming out of Pristina are accurate at all. Doesnt sound like talks with Jorgensen are going well and people are beginign to panic, which would lead to frustration and then bombing.
Juan.
Juan. I have also heard that yesterday, that the talks doesn´t go well at all for Kosova. His name is Petersen and not Jorgensen. Anyway, I dont think for a second that Kosovo will be independent, not for a simple second. You know what they say, "dont yell yes until you have crossed the finish line". It will be an interresting 2006, believe me.
And you will decide it right? All you can decide is to come as a tourist in Kosova and have some Burek with cheese, or spinash, or meat if you like that, but that's about it.
If the balkans didn't have any shiptares then all of europe would be a beautiful place to live in.
It's funny how Serbs speak of a peaceful Europe when they've nicely achieved the bloodiest decade in Europe by simply being themselves :)
ICE CREAM FOR SERBIA! Ice cream is the road to independence for Serbia...independence politicaly but also spiritualy...for they might once and for all turn to the path of Jessus and move away from the darkness of Satan.
lets look at the century. Have you ever heard of Jasenovacs? Or was that a myth?
Maybe Chris you could be so kind as to define the meaning of Genocide, since you know so much about it.
Post a Comment