Jye

I give up, it seems there is no hope for the human race.

moses

i heard a lil yesterday, wtf happened their, there their to help them so why the **** attack nato troops ??? i dont understand that at all

wrxtankie

This happened in exactly the same place a couple of years back, if you can remember the french decided to use cs gas and didnt bother to tell the brits about it and gassed us, the croud felt so bad about it they packed up and went home. True story.

Jye

I hate cutting and pasting but I guess some NG info is better than the crap doled out by the BBC etc atm. Basically its a bloody mess, personally I cant see how anyone can sort this out.


NATO Warns Albanians as Churches Burn
By Fredrik Dahl

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Albanians set fire to Serb churches in Kosovo Thursday in a second day of attacks as NATO boosted its force by 1,000 warning it would stamp out ethnic violence with "robust" action.

The call for reinforcements followed the worst day of ethnic clashes in Kosovo since NATO and the United Nations seized control of the province from Serbia in 1999.

At least 23 people, from both the majority Albanian and minority Serb populations, were killed, and 500 injured, of whom 20 were in intensive care.

"The thousands of ethnic Albanians that attacked KFOR, the police, Serb enclaves and churches should be aware of robust reserve forces," KFOR mission commander Gen. Holger Kammerhoff of Germany told reporters in the capital, Pristina.

Commanders of the multinational brigades were authorized to use "proportional force necessary to ensure safety of our soldiers, to protect the innocent people of Kosovo and reestablish freedom of movement of all of Kosovo," he said.

A Serb official in Lipljan, central Kosovo, said about 300 Albanians were trying to enter a church protected by Finnish U.N. peacekeeping troops.

Some had thrown hand grenades and Finnish troops had fired back, municipalleader Borivoje Vignjevic told Reuters.

One church was torched in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica despite the efforts of French NATO peacekeepers, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets to drive off the mob.

NATO troops also fired gas and plastic rounds to stop an Albanian crowd that was marching on Caglavica, a Serb village hard hit in the violence.

In the central town of Obilic, Serbs appealed to KFOR for weapons to defend themselves as Albanians, whose religion is Islam, set fire to their homes and drove them out.

"There are no more Serbs in Obilic. ... Cerska street is on fire!" local Serb Mirce Jakoljevic told Belgrade's B92 radio. "I urge our state to exert the strongest possible pressure on KFOR to send us weapons."

The Olibic church was set ablaze, one of 15 churches and monasteries attacked according to the church in Kosovo.


FROM CLARK TO JONES

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. James L. Jones -- one of whose predecessors Gen. Wesley Clark bombed Serbia to force it out of Kosovo -- said extra troops were part of "a prudent reinforcement of the some 18,500 already there.

"The reinforcements include a battalion-sized, rapid response reserve force" to be deployed where needed, he said.

The violence began Monday when a Serb teen-ager was wounded in a drive-by shooting. The following day three Albanian boys drowned in a river, reportedly after being chased by Serbs.

On Wednesday, the province exploded.

Serbia's main representative on Kosovo, Nebojsa Covic told Serbs in Mitrovica the violence "has all been organized in advance and pre-planned by Albanians and their lobbyists."

"This might be the decisive battle for Kosovo and the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and we must win," he said,

In a session of the Kosovo parliament, representatives of three main Albanian parties said the only way to calm Kosovo down was to declare its independence -- a constant demand held at bay by the United Nations which wants peace before any status decision.

U.S. soldiers blocked the Pristina-Mitrovica road and were checking all travelers as 150 more U.S. troops and 80 Italian carabinieri came in and Britain readied 750 troops.

In Serbia, the Interior Ministry put paramilitary police on the boundary with Kosovo on the top level of combat readiness.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Albanians were bent on driving the remaining Serbs out and urged the U.N. Security Council to act to deter such "ethnic cleansing."

"We cannot protect our people in Kosovo with a military force but we can protect them with politics and we are doing our best to do so," said deputy prime minister Miroljub Labus.

The widespread outburst of pent-up ethnic hatred suggested reconciliation between the two communities was years away.

Angry protesters in Serbia's three main cities stoned and burned mosques and other Islamic buildings Wednesday night, furious at what they said was NATO's failure to check Albanian "terrorism."

moses

thats sad not again

Crapaud62

Agreed its very sad.

I went to Kosovo in Dec 1999 just as the fighting had stopped and again six months later to help with charity work.

It was weird the way there was so much hatred between the ethnic groups. Unfortunately it goes back hundreds of years and is very difficult to change. Our charity tried to integrate the children so that they could see that the "other side" were just normal kids like themselves and not monsters.

However, it is very hard work.

At one of the schools, the kids were asked to draw a picture of their home, a perfectly normal school task. One kid drew his house with flames coming out of the windows after the serbs had torched his house. Another child painted a picture of most of her family lying dead and headless in the front garden.

The emotions are still high after the terrible attrocities committed on both sides. Its easy for us to say to them to get on with things and try to live in peace but it is hard for them. One woman had seen soldiers rape her two young children in front of her and her husband. When her husband tried to intervene he had his head blown off, again in front of her. Not easy telling these people to forgive and forget. All the Albanians I met told me they would never be so passive again and would be prepared to strike first next time.

Conversely, the minority Serbs in Kosovo were very scared of reprisals. It was un-nerving to see the complete fear in their eyes if they thought the Albanians could "detect" them as being Serbian.

I genuinely hope that the country can move forward but it is incredibly complex.

dosenöffner

I was there in 92. Not pretty.Grown men with guns on patrol crying. Very sad.

ozzy

It doean't seem to matter where you go in the World, there's always a group of people who have a deep hatred for those that are different to themselves. Whether it's race, skin complexion, religion, etc..

The genocide carried out over there harks back to the dark ages never mind a supposedly modern society. The problem is there is no law and order, no accountability and little or no compassion for a fellow human being.

The hardcore fanatical Serbs see Albanians as no better than dogs and the same is felt on the otherside. Women and children are caught in the middle and the "so-called" military has no problems killing either of them.

If there was ever an area I'd be more than happy to invade, it would be the Balkans. Unfortunately there is no oil or financial rewards for sending troops to intervene and it's left to UN troops to keep the peace

Nevermind keeping the peace, get in there and hunt down those who are carrying out any war crimes and rid the planet of them.

Stefan

moses

ozzy only if all leaders spoke like u mate

nice one

ozzy

I honestly can't work out why people have pre-conceived hatred for another life. It just doesn't compute in my head.

My father is Czech, I have a German uncle, I work beside people from Australia, South Africa, India, Brazil. Yes, some have different accents, different customs, different relegious beliefs and god forbid different coloured skin. Once you see past these differences, they are just like me. Each has weaknesses and strengths, all love their families and friends and just trying to live their lives like everyone else.

I have no reason to hate them simply based on these differences and I can't contemplate why anyone would. It beggars belief when I hear some people argue that these "foreigners" are coming over here, stealing jobs, living off benefits and offering nothing to this country. I for one welcome these people to our country and I'm fascinated by how different AND a like we all are. Cultural differences should be celebrated rather than denounced, but since it's been this way for millenia I doubt it's going to be solved in our lifetimes.

You can never force people to live together and accept these differences, but perhaps it's time to show certain leaders that in-humane killing and mass murder simply won't (and shouldn't) be tolerated by any culture.

I don't feel the US has any right to be the World's military/police force, but it's about time we had one that represented every country.

Stefan

moses

u nearly brought me to tears stefan u are a true warrior bros and even blair couldnt have beaten that speech awesome



see us scots are the aryan race

Geezer

No, you're just a mongrel mix like the rest of us!

And you all sound like Rab C Nesbitt

Geezer

moses

lol aryan doesnt mean a mongrel being a scot makes us superior to other people



lol achung baby, well im arabic persian blooded via pakistani and german aryan and a honourary irishman too

Katana

Unfortunately, some people in the vocal minority are more partial to blame "foreigners" for their poverty. Some people are incapable of blaming themselves for their lack of material ownerships or lower social status and instead of improving themselves, they take the easy way out by attacking the ethnic minorities as it gives them a bit of an endorphin rush in that fleeting second when they shout out a racial slur.

Too bad this actually destroys their self esteem especially when they see a good looking "foreigner" with a perfect body having an education ,owning properties and businesses at a young age, having a beautiful rich girlfriend (that the said vocal minority knows is out of his own league) who is 7 years of the "foreigner's" junior and top it up, might even buy a Lexus as a second car on top of his performance car. But such is life. There can never be equality and as long as there is a huge fincancial gap between individuals and if this is the case, racism will exist.

This is exactly why this is happening in Kosovo between the Serbs and Albanians. But we dont have to look far to see this sort of soap opera being played. Just look at our own back yards. It may not be obvious but if you look hard enough you'll see it though in a smaller scale.

moses

kats post
---------Too bad this actually destroys their self esteem especially when they see a good looking "foreigner" with a perfect body having an education ,owning properties and businesses at a young age, having a beautiful rich girlfriend (that the said vocal minority knows is out of his own league) who is 7 years of the "foreigner's" junior and top it up, might even buy a Lexus as a second car on top of his performance car. But such is life. There can never be equality and as long as there is a huge fincancial gap between individuals and if this is the case, racism will exist.

------------------



perfect body and u my brother that is a laugh u skeleton

ozzy

LOL @ Geezer

Stefan

Jye

Stop bragging about yourself Kat, I dont get an endorphin rush but your making me bloody green with envy

Jye - old, fat and thick with no cash and the GF is the same

edited to say, yeah moses, I have also seen Kats picture, dare I say butcher and pencil, lol, only kiddin Kat

moses

lol ' jye hee hee kat thinks he is in the matrix with the keanu reeves neo sunglasses and jacket

Jye

Heheh, I will give him the big daddie body splash, rob him of his degree and carry his missus off in my Nova

moses

lol he would be more than happy to give u his ex missus she screwed him for every penny, jye u can have her

Jye

Did I say I was deperate anyhow

Katana

Hehe you guys are welcome to my ex. Too bad she never got any cash from me. Well I do get access to my child so I'm happy. I knew my parents law degree will come in handy one day, especially my mom's one.

Btw, what made you guys think its me I'm talking about? I was talking metaphorically. I dont legally own anything. *cough*

moses

lol nice one bros im glad she didnt get jack