Protesters, troops clash in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Serbs opposed to Kosovo's independence fought pitched battles with U.N. and NATO forces Monday in the divided town of Mitrovica, stoking fears of a new regional conflict in the Balkans.

The clashes forced lightly armed United Nations police to withdraw from the town in northern Kosovo. With their helicopters circling overhead, NATO troops riding in armored personnel carriers and firing tear gas moved in under a hail of stones and Molotov cocktails. NATO and U.N. personnel were also shot at, officials said, and in some instances returned fire.

Later, Serbs attacked a U.N. convoy taking away detainees, enabling several to escape, police said.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops were occupying a sliver of northern Mitrovica late Monday, amid a tableau of burned U.N. vehicles and debris. Serb leaders accused the international forces of using excessive force.

Dozens of people were hurt in Monday's incidents, the worst violence in Kosovo since the Albanian-dominated province announced its secession from Serbia on Feb. 17. On Feb. 21, Serb rioters in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, torched the U.S. Embassy in similar protests that left one demonstrator dead and nearly 100 people injured. Washington and several European countries have recognized the new state of Kosovo.

The former province had been under the protection of international troops since 1999, when a U.S.-led NATO air war stopped a crackdown on Albanian separatists by then-dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Belgrade has long insisted that Kosovo, which is administered by the U.N., should remain part of what is now Serbia.

On Monday, Serbia appealed to Russia, its main ally in the dispute over Kosovo, and Moscow condemned "the dangerous situation" that was unfolding.

Serbian President Boris Tadic, who is generally pro-Western, urged calm but also accused international forces of having used excessive force in Mitrovica, warning that "this kind of harsh reaction ... could lead to an escalation of violence in the region."

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a hard-line nationalist, said he condemned the use of force against Serbs "protesting the establishing of a false state in the territory of Serbia." He said Belgrade and Moscow would prepare a "joint reaction" to prevent "all violence against Serbs."

Mitrovica, a city divided between ethnic Albanians in the south and Serbs in the north, has long been a flash point. Serbian residents have been protesting daily since Kosovo declared independence, and they seized control of a U.N. court building Friday. They apparently wanted to prevent Albanian judges and personnel from being allowed to work there in the place of Serbs.

After a weekend of negotiations in which U.N. officials repeatedly ordered the demonstrators to leave the building, U.N. police began forcibly ejecting the Serbs before dawn Monday.

That's when the serious fighting started. As protesters who had occupied the court were being led away, angry Serbs blocked the roads and began hurling stones and grenades at the international forces. The clashes quickly escalated.

About 70 Serbs and 40 U.N. or NATO personnel, including Poles, French and Ukrainians, were injured, officials said.

NATO and the European Union, which is scheduled to replace the U.N. in the coming months with a supervisory mission of 2,000 police and judges, expressed concern and outrage over the violence and called on Serb leaders to control their communities.