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Serbia Accuses Ethnic Albanians of Terrorism

BELGRADE, April 24 (Reuters) — Pent-up ethnic tensions between Serbians and ethnic Albanians have burst out anew in troubled Kosovo province, after a series of shootings which prompted Serbia to accuse local Albanians of "terrorism." Five people died and five more were wounded in four towns across the southern province. The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) issued a statement which said said the shootings "confirm that the Albanian separatist movement has opted for terrorism."

The Serbian Interior Ministry said the incidents occurred in four separate towns across the southern province, mostly peopled by ethnic Albanians. It said all the victims were either civilians or ministry members. Political analysts have warned Kosovo is potentially the most explosive unresolved issue in the Balkans, and that the ethnic hostility which festered there before the break-up of former Yugoslavia in 1991 could lead to another war.

Both the SPS and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which represents ethnic Albanians, said the shootings had significantly raised the temperature in already strained relations between the Serb and Albanian communities. According to Serb folk law, the Serb nation had its defining moment in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, which it lost to the invading Turks. Since then, it has become the rallying point for Serb nationalism.

Kosovo was Trigger for Bosnian War
The rallying cry of Serbian President Slobodan Milosovic when he rose to power in 1986 was for Serb rights in Kosovo. That sparked a crisis which analysts say led to the break-up of former Yugoslavia. But diplomats say Milosovic is keen to avoid open conflict between the ethnic groups, while both the United States and Germany have been lobbying the Albanians to limit their demands. The U.S. has refused to recognise rump Yugoslavia — Serbia and Montenegro — until it addresses human rights abuses in Kosovo.

In official statements released on Tuesday, Serbian authorities repeatedly accused the Kosovo Albanians of "terrorist acts." "(These acts) preclude a peaceful solution to the existing problems in Kosovo," the SPS warned. But the LDK said the authorities had used the latest incidents as an excuse for imposing "fresh Serbian-state sponsored violence and terror" against the Albanian community. "(LDK) denounces the stepping-up of Serbian police terror as a way to prejudge the issue without any foundation whatsoever," an LKD statement said.

The bellicose rhetoric came on the day that some 10,000 Albanian women staged the first demonstration in Kosovo since 1992. The women were protesting against the shooting of a 20-year-old man by a Serb in Pristina on Sunday. In the past, Albanian leaders had ruled out demonstrations, citing a heavy Serbian police presence. The last public protest by 300,000 local Albanians was over the closure of Albanian schools in the region.

Almost two million Albanians live in Kosovo. They make up more than 90 percent of the population, despite efforts by Serbian leaders to settle Serb refugees from fighting in Croatia and Bosnia there during the war which followed the break-up of former Yugoslavia and formally ended in December.


Apr 23 · Four Killed in Kosovo Shootout
Calling Attention to Kosovo
The Truth about Kosovo and Metohija, Part 1 of 3 Orthodox World News
The Truth about Kosovo and Metohija, Part 2 of 3 Orthodox World News
The Truth about Kosovo and Metohija, Part 3 of 3 Orthodox World News
Kosovo and Metohija Today
Cultural page about Albania and Kosovo


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