Angry Serbs turn on UN police as tension mounts over Kosovo's independence

Published on Friday 22 February 2008 20:56

SERBS protesting against the independence of Kosovo attacked United Nations police with stones and glass bottles yesterday at a key bridge in the north of the former province.

Some 5,000 demonstrators waved Serbian flags and chanted "Kosovo is ours" in a fifth day of protests since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence.

The Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar river – which divides Kosovo Serbs from ethnic Albanians – has long been a focus for tensions.

Dragan Deletic, a Serbian government official, told the crowd at the bridge: "Kosovo is Serbia and we will never surrender, despite blackmail by the European Union."

Boris Tadic, the pro-western president of Serbia, demanded an end to nationalist rioting after attacks on the American and other embassies in Belgrade. One person died and more than 150 people were injured during unrest on Thursday night.

"I most sharply condemn the violence, looting and arson," Mr Tadic said. "Nobody can justify what happened yesterday."

A video of two young women looting during the rioting has become a surprise hit on the YouTube website.

The giggling pair loaded up with chocolates, designer bags, shoes and clothes from vandalised stores.