Body found after US Embassy in Belgrade is stormed

A CHARRED body was found in the US Embassy in Belgrade after protesters smashed their way into the building in anger at Kosovo's independence and set the building on fire.

The British Embassy also came under attack as riots swept the Serbian capital but staff were said to be unharmed. Belgian, Croatian and Turkish missions were also attacked.

Both the UK and the US have recognised Kosovo after it declared independence from Serbia earlier this week.

Last night officials in the US said all American personnel at the embassy had been accounted for and there was nothing to suggest the body was an embassy employee. But it was unclear if staff who were not US citizens were accounted for.

William Wanland, a spokesman for the embassy, said the body appeared to have been a protester.

About 1,000 protesters attacked the US compound, which was closed at the time, just after 7pm, throwing flares through the window while others scaled walls to rip down the US flag.

Masked attackers broke into and tried to throw furniture from an office. They set fire to the office and flames shot up the side of the building.

The blaze raged for half an hour, and when firemen finally managed to get inside the building they found a charred body.

It appeared police were not protecting the embassy, but riot police later intervened, firing tear gas.

Businesses and restaurants in the city were also attacked and up to 100 people were injured.

The violence followed a peaceful demonstration earlier by at least 150,000 people outside the main parliament building.

At the rally the ultra-nationalist leader Tomislav Nikolic accused the US and EU of trying to steal Kosovo: "Hitler could not take it away from us, and neither will today's (Western powers]."

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had earlier delivered an impassioned speech condemning the territory's secession. "As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia. Kosovo belongs to the Serbian people," he told the flag-waving crowd.

David Miliband, the UK foreign secretary, said damage to the building was "limited" and embassy staff were safe.

He said: "I have been closely watching reports of the violence in Belgrade against international embassies, including the UK embassy.

"While the Kosovo issue raises strong feelings in Serbia, no cause can justify such displays of violence."

In New York Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the United Nations, expressed outrage and said he would ask for the Security Council to condemn the attack.

He said the Serbian government should be reminded "of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities".

Serbia's president Boris Tadic, on an official visit to Romania, appealed for calm and urged the protesters to stop the attacks and move away from the streets.

SCATTERED MIX

THE declaration of independence by Kosovo, which has a 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority, has raised the possibility of Greater Albania, uniting the minorities scattered in Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro.

But there is little enthusiasm. Ethnic Albanians have not lived in a unified country since the Ottoman Empire.In the intervening decades, they lived under dramatically different regimes.

When Albania opened its international borders for the first time in 1991, Kosovars found they had little in common with their brethren to the south-west. Kosovars are also hesitant to rock regional diplomacy further by pushing for a grander vision for ethnic Albanians.