 |
|
|
NATO steps in as Serbs torch Kosovo post
Racial abuse behind Asian’s death in Bristol
27 killed in Lanka clashes
|
|
|
|
|
NATO steps in as Serbs torch Kosovo post
Pristina, February 19 Serbs burned down one border post and were attacking a second, a Kosovo police spokesman said. The police manning the post called for help from the NATO peacekeeping force, KFOR, which said it was stepping in. “KFOR is going to intervene now,” a force spokesman said. He declined to say which troops of the 35-nation, 17,000-strong force were being deployed. The violence highlights the challenge facing a European Union law enforcement mission preparing to deploy in the Albanian-majority territory which has been under UN administration for nearly nine years. “We are inches from partition,” said a Western official. He said he believed it was “only a matter of time before KFOR closes the bridges” that crosses the River Ibar in the flashpoint city of Mitrovica, dividing Kosovo Serbs from Albanians. Some 2 million Albanians live in Kosovo alongside around 120,000 remaining Serbs. Half of these are concentrated in an area running north from Mitrovica to the Serbian border, the rest in isolated enclaves further south. A spokesman for the EU’s International Civilian Office, whose Dutch leader Pieter Feith is expected in Kosovo any day, said there was no plan to withdraw a small advance EU team from the north side of Mitrovica. They would stay on and carry out their mandate, he told Reuters. Russia warns US
MOSCOW: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice that Kosovo’s declaration of independence endangers international stability, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said in a brief statement that Lavrov had discussed Kosovo with Rice in a telephone conversation on Monday. During the call, which the statement said was initiated by Washington, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s opposition to Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence and underlined the dangers which Russia says this poses. “On our side, we confirmed our principled position on the unacceptability of one-sided acts of Pristina declaring its independence.” “We underlined the dangerous consequences of such a step, which is fraught with the destruction of the principles of peace and order and international stability, which have been developed over decades,” the statement said. Russia has backed its ally Serbia in opposing independence for Kosovo. Before Sunday’s declaration, Moscow said recognizing Kosovo would create a dangerous legal precedent, opening a “Pandora’s Box” of separatist tension around the world.
— Reuters
|
|
Racial abuse behind Asian’s death in Bristol
London, February 19 Naseer Sayeed (46) succumbed to his injuries at the Bristol Royal Infirmary on Sunday after a two-storey building containing his shop and home in Bristol was set to fire on Friday. Five members of the family were sleeping in the flat, when the suspected arson attack took place, the police said. According to reports, one man jumped out of first floor window. Sayeed’s 21-year-old daughter Nisha Nasir was said to be in a critical condition and a 67-year-old unidentified family member was in hospital with serious injuries. A 32-year-old local man was taken into custody. Seven others, who were arrested earlier, were released pending further enquiries. The attack shocked people in the area, according to the local media. Residents claimed that racism was rife in the area, and that the family was subjected to a “campaign of hate” from local gangs after moving into the area two years ago. Jasmine Dirk, who runs a nearby shop, said, “It is out of control around here. The family in the newsagents was very quiet and kept themselves to themselves. But the yobs kept on and on at them. They had their windows smashed and the word Paki written all over their cars.” “They were physically attacked when they tried to stop people stealing. They were being terrorised - just because of the colour of their skin,” he said. Neighbour Pam James said, “I just don’t know what’s in the mind of the person who did it. I can’t believe it. That shop has been there ever since we’ve been here. They never harmed anybody. Who could have had it in for them, I just don’t know.” Detective superintendent Nigel Rock, who is leading the investigation, said, “Due to the injuries sustained by the victim, we have treated this incident with the utmost seriousness since Friday and this has now become a murder investigation.” — IANS
|
|
27 killed in Lanka clashes
Colombo, February 19 As many as seven LTTE rebels were killed in a confrontation with the security forces at the Giant Tank area in Vavuniya yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security said. The bodies would be handed over to the International Red Cross Committee soon, the officials said. Another 10 rebels were killed in a spate of clashes at the northeast of Uilankulam in Mannar, the defence ministry said. The clashes left two soldiers dead and nine injured, it said. Security forces found bodies of two LTTE cadres at Pallaikuli in Mannar after clashes, the army said. In another incident in north of Parappakandal in Mannar, troops captured 4 LTTE bunkers in a raid yesterday that left at least six rebels dead and 10 wounded, the defence ministry said.
— PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
