Kosovo Albanian veterans erect UCK memorial on
Serbian church land
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - January 17, 2006 Tuesday
Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Belgrade, 17 January: The association of war veterans of the OVK [Kosovo
Liberation Army - KLA; UCK in Albanian] and the Djakovica municipal assembly
have erected a memorial to "war heroes" on land belonging to the SPC [Serbian
Orthodox Church] near the Serbian Orthodox temple of the Holy Trinity in
Djakovica, which was demolished after the 1999 war, the Serbian Orthodox Church
has said.
"This latest assault on SPC property in direct collusion with official municipal
institutions confirms that in addition to individual violence in Kosovo-Metohija,
violence is being committed under the official auspices of institutions set up
under the UN protectorate," the statement said.
Liplje bishop Teodosije, who is in charge of reconstruction of demolished sacred
sites in Kosovo-Metohija on behalf of the SPC, has officially informed the Holy
Archpriests' Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and his superior, archpriest
Artemije, about the incident, as the church of the Holy Trinity in Djakovica has
been designated for reconstruction under a Council of Europe programme.
Bishop Teodosije has called on UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo] Soeren Jessen-Petersen to ensure resolute and timely action by the
relevant authorities to protect SPC property and uphold the law.
The statement says that the Church has officially informed the relevant state
bodies of Serbia and Montenegro, diplomatic missions in Belgrade and their local
offices in Pristina, as well as [UN envoy] Martti Ahtisaari's office in Vienna,
about this outrageous move by the OVK veterans and Djakovica municipality, ahead
of the upcoming talks which will also tackle the issue of protection of SPC
property in Kosovo-Metohija.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1348 gmt 17 Jan 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation
Posted for Fair Use only.