EPARCHY BLAMES KFOR'S REMOVAL OF CHECKPOINTS FOR DEATH OF KOSOVO SERB YOUTH
FoNet - June 5, 2004

Gracanica, 5 June: The (Serbian Orthodox Church's) Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija Eparchy has sharply condemned the murder of the 17-year-old Serb from Gracanica, Dimitrije Popovic.

The statement says that yesterday's "heinous terrorist attack is yet another in a series of ethnic crimes directed against the Serb community which confirms there is no existing security for Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, even in the largest Serb enclaves".

"Nearly three months after the March (2004) pogrom, in which Albanian terrorists killed nine and expelled 4,000 Serb civilians, ethnic terror and violence against Serbs continues with the aim of creating an ethnically pure Albanian Kosovo and expelling all Serbs from this region," the statement says.

The eparchy points out that apart from the direct perpetrators of this crime who were arrested, the representatives of the UN peacekeeping mission bear responsibility for ethnic violence in Kosovo, as to date they have failed to arrest any of the organizers of the March violence, while Kfor (NATO-led Kosovo Force) Command bears special responsibility as a few days ago Kfor checkpoints at the approaches to Gracanica were removed, "which had provided some kind of security for Serbs, as all Albanian vehicles passing through the Serb settlement were checked and any potential escape by attackers was impossible".

The Raska-Prizren Eparchy calls on the UN international mission and Kfor to effectively safeguard Serb enclaves and the defenceless Serb population "instead of just passively registering crimes".

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1248 gmt 5 Jun 04

Copyright 2004 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire 
Copyright 2004 BBC Monitoring/BBC  
BBC Monitoring International Reports

Posted for Fair Use only.