Incident

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Incident

Nato troops seal off Kosovo border to prevent attack

20 February 2008 10:26 (UTC +04:00)

Hundreds of protesters torched customs and police posts at Jarinje and Banja, manned by United Nations and Kosovo police.Closing the borders will infuriate both Kosovo Serbs and Serbiaâ€™s government, the BBC reports.
The move cuts Kosovoâ€™s mainly Serb north off from Serbia, the country to which they insist they still belong.
The protesters arrived in convoys of cars and buses in what the BBC reports was clearly a carefully planned and coordinated action.
Kosovo police and UN customs officials were forced to withdraw to a nearby tunnel as the crowds used bulldozers and explosives to demolish the border posts, according to eyewitnesses.
Nato-led peacekeepers from K-For were called in and United States soldiers blocked the main road crossing with Serbia, while Estonian and French troops sealed the crossing to Montenegro.
In Pristina, Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said an isolated incident would not be allowed to diminish the glory of Kosovan independence.
Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic made an impassioned speech, saying that Kosovo would never be a sovereign nation and would remain part of Serbia forever.
"For us, Kosovo is the crucible of our identity, it is the essential link between our past and our future," he told the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Austria.
Earlier in the day, the European Unionâ€™s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, became the first international statesman to visit Kosovo since its independence declaration.
The US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy have all recognised the new state, but others have not.
Russia, an ally of Serbia, has warned that the declaration of independence endangers international stability, while China has expressed its deep concern.
The UN Security Council is divided over how to respond to Kosovoâ€™s move, and it has failed to agree on any action.
The Russian warning came just hours after US President George W Bush said America would soon establish full diplomatic relations with Kosovo.