KOSOVO: K-FOR TROOPS BLOCK ETHNIC ALBANIAN MARCH UPDATE

(7 Aug 1999) Eng/Albanian/Nat

Violence has broken out between French K-FOR troops and angry ethnic Albanians after the troops prevented them from marching into the Serb section of the Kosovan town of Mitrovica.

The K-FOR troops detained at least four protesters after wrestling them to the ground.

K-L-A leaders tried to appease the angry crowds, but it took the force of the KFOR soldiers to prevent a confrontation between the two communities.

Trouble started in Kosovska Mitrovica on Saturday when about 100 ethnic Albanians assembled on their side of the Ibar bridge.

It was supposed to be a rally attended by politicians from the Kosovo Liberation Army (K-L-A) and the Democratic League of Kosovo.

But the politicians failed to show up.

Violence broke out when French K-FOR troops, who control Mitrovica, stopped the Albanians from crossing the bridge where a large group of Serbs were assembled on the other side.

Stray gunshots were heard during the confrontation as Serbs and ethnic Albanians gathered either side of a bridge over the Ibar River, which divides the town.

About 10 French military vehicles and nearly 40 troops kept the two groups apart.

There were scuffles as French soldiers pushed back the Albanians, whose numbers swelled to nearly 1-thousand as word of the confrontation spread through the town.

On the other side of the bridge, hundreds of Serbs chanted and clapped, and some hurled stones at the ethnic Albanians as the two sides traded insults and profanities.

Kosovska Mitrovica, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Pristina, has been one of Kosovo's flashpoints because of the presence of large ethnic Albanian and Serb communities.

Serbs live on one side of the Ibar river, Albanians on the other, and French troops separate the two factions.

Many on the Albanian side say they were thrown out of their homes on the Serb side during the Kosovo conflict and have been prevented by both Serbs and the French from returning.

Some ethnic Albanians manage to wade across the river to the Serbian side where most of Mitrovica's shops, factories, and the town's university and hospital are located.

K-FOR soldiers had formed human walls across the bridge and the river banks to prevent the Albanians from crossing.

These defense lines were backed by rows of soldiers with their weapons trained on the mob, should the line be broken.

Rolls of barbed wire were also set up by soldiers attempting to keep the two sides apart.

French military leaders say they have been escorting Albanians across Ibar Bridge in recent days and say ethnic Albanians deliberately provoked Saturday's violence.

They denied accusations that they were provoking the Albanian side, by being too heavy handed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"For now we are trying to avoid a massive confrontation between the two communities."
"Q: Are you trying to do this by provoking the Albanians?"
"A: If we provoked anyone (we would be guilty) of trying to both provoke and kill people. You know that the tension today is high- in the past few weeks it has been low."
SUPERCAPTION: P. Tagay, French K-FOR soldier

As the violence continued, K-L-A leaders tried to intervene to diffuse the situation.

They urged the crowd not to attempt to cross the bridge on Saturday for the sake of their own security.

SOUNDBITE: (Albanian)
" Please, let me tell you, for the sake of your own security, you cannot cross the bridge today. be patient, the day will come."
SUPER CAPTION: Rhamam, K-L-A leader



UPSOUND: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Rhamam, K-L-A leader




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