Subject: Serb leader accuses Belgian troops of shooting protesters in the back
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 5:10:35 PST
From: C-afp@... (AFP / Dave Clark)
Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
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PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Dec 19 (AFP) - An influential Serb leader
accused NATO peacekeepers Tuesday of shooting two protesters in the
back during weekend rioting in the Kosovo Serb town of Leposavic.
Oliver Ivanovic, the head of the Serbian National Council in the
divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, told AFP that Belgian troops had
fired more than 15 bullets during a day of protest in Leposavic
Saturday, in which one Serb died of gunshot wounds and another was
seriously wounded.
A third Serb died of a heart attack during the incident, said
Ivanovic who was due to hold talks Tuesday with NATO peacekeeping
(KFOR) troops and UN officials to try and calm the situation in the
town.
But he said people there were still "very angry" and that
reconciliation would take time.
"The reaction of KFOR was inappropriate. More than 15 bullets
were fired into the crowd. And what is very interesting is that
these two guys got bullets in the back. They were not attacking," he
said.
A UN police investigator told reporters Monday that one of the
dead men was hit in the back by a bullet when protestors attacked a
UN police station guarded by Belgian KFOR troops, but he had no
information as to who had fired it.
UN police and KFOR have launched an inquiry into Saturday's
events, in which protesters burned three Belgian military vehicles
as well as attacking the police station.
Six Belgian peacekeepers and a civilian KFOR employee were taken
hostage by the crowd for three hours during the fighting and two of
their rifles were seized, KFOR spokesman Steven Shappell said,
adding that it was possible one of the stolen rifles was fired by a
rioter in the confusion.
The commander of the Belgian troops in Leposavic, Lieutenant
Colonel Rik Koumans, told reporters Sunday that his men had fired
warning shots and that one had "ricocheted" and hit a protester.
But KFOR has since refused to confirm this, and said inquiries
are still being carried out.
Andre Flahout, Belgium's defence minister, told the daily Le
Soir: "It is plausible that the shot came from a Belgian weapon, but
it could have come from one of the seized weapons."
UN police spokesman Dmitri Kaportsev said Monday that police had
heard reports that at least one bullet was fired at the police
station from the crowd.
All UN police patrols have been stopped in Leposavic, a town
with an almost entirely Serbian population, and the damaged police
station is out of use until officers' safety can be assured, UN
spokeswoman Susan Manuel said.
The violence began after Serb officers of the UN-run Kosovo
Police Service (KPS) arrested fellow Serb Vladimir Tomovic on
suspicion of motoring offences.
Kaportsev told reporters that Tomovic, who was said to have been
drunk, attempted to drive his car at the officers.
The case has been put in the hands of an international
prosecutor, Michael Hartmann, who told AFP that he would decide by
3:00 pm Tuesday (1400 GMT) whether to charge Tomovic and with what
offence.
Police are pressing for a charge of attempted murder, Kaportsev
said.
But if Tomovic is charged or maintained in detention it could
provoke further tension and perhaps violence, UN officials warned.
Tomovic is believed to be a member of the "Bridgewatchers," an
unrecognised Serb self-defence militia based in Mitrovica and
thought to be loyal to Ivanovic, UN spokeswoman Susan Manuel said.
Ivanovic told AFP that Tomovic was drunk, but accused the KPS
officers of over-reacting, saying that they drew their weapons and
threatened him.