UN report criticises UNMIK over Mitrovica court raid

03/08/2008

NEW YORK, United States -- International troops in Kosovo should not have used force to storm a courthouse in Mitrovica in March, according to a UN internal investigation report, quoted by the media Saturday (August 2nd). On March 17th, KFOR and UNMIK troops raided the court building to arrest Serb judicial workers staging a protest inside. The raid triggered riots by local Serbs. Clashes between them and international troops killed one UNMIK policeman and injured 200 people. According to Reuters, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet presented the internal report at a closed briefing. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said he was satisfied with the findings, which he says resulted from Belgrade's "persistent pressure". (B92, FoNet, Tanjug, Reuters, Radio Free Europe - 02/08/08)