UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten
OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

Good afternoon.

Mitrovica:
Yesterday, last night and today we have had a difficult situation in northern Mitrovica as many have reported. Demonstrations by Serbs over the detention of a suspect in connection with the harassment of a Kosovo Albanian continued and last night they targeted UNMIK Police.

At about 4 yesterday afternoon, illegal roadblocks were set up in all main junctions and streets, and roads leading to the police station were blocked. A larger demonstration of some 400 people resumed at 1900.

According to UNMIK Police, at about 18:00 hours, a group of 20 Serbs entered the apartment of two police officers, threatened them and forced them to hand over their pistols and radio& A half hour later, another UNMIK police apartment was reportedly broken into and looted while the officers were on duty. During the night, an UNMIK police car was ambushed and damaged. Although the Pakistani Special Police was and is deployed, the Indian Special Police Unit encountered roadblocks as they were coming from the south and were unable to relieve the Pakistanis.

Staff of the Mitrovica Courthouse were also kept from leaving and were evacuated after midnight last night by KFOR and UNMIK security officers.

UNMIK Police based in northern Mitrovica, in town, are now on standby either in the police station or their accommodations, while in other areas they are continuing to patrol. Another demonstration is expected today.

SRSG Bernard Kouchner, Police Commissioner Frederickson and COMKFOR General Ortuno are meeting today to discuss how to deal with this situation and plan concrete measures.

Dr. Kouchner has deplored the events in Mitrovica. He is outraged that the UNMIK Police who live and work amongst the Serb community for their benefit and protection have been targeted and abused. He urges the people of northern Mitrovica to act themselves to restore calm.

For your information, about 145 regular UNMIK police are assigned Mitrovica north station, serving the northern part of town. This is among a total of 550 officers deployed in Mitrovica region. That doesn. t count the Special Police Unit.

Registration

Registration closes today, at 1900 hours.
There will be no further extension of the deadline. Roland Bless will brief in a minute on final numbers.

IAC

The IAC met late yesterday afternoon, following the visit of the North Atlantic Council.
Dr. Kouchner welcomed back PDK chairman Hashim Thaci, saying he hoped a renewed good co-operation and work together again as a team for the future of Kosovo. Dr. Kouchner also briefed the IAC on his meeting in Brussels. The IAC discussed its work plan for the next three months.

In his meeting with the North Atlantic Council yesterday, Dr. Kouchner also discussed the general security situation in Kosovo, progress towards municipal elections, the work of the IAC and KTC, the Turkish situation and the situation of returns of Kosovo Albanians from abroad as well as the small sale returns of nine Serbs. He asked for NATO engagement in the return of non-Albanian communities.

SRSG today meets a delegation of 10 members of parliaments from NATO countries.
At 2:30 this delegation meets Albanian and Serb leaders here.

KTC

Today the KTC was discussing the situation of all communities in Kosovo, at the urging of the Bosniaks. So they were discussing in that context security, freedom of movement, returns, culture and media and tolerance and co-existence.

IAC and KTC meetings will be cancelled next week, as several of the participants are going to Washington for a conference in the U.S.

The Press briefing will, as of Friday, be at 11:30 a.m. This is at the request of some of you in the audience.

KFOR Spokesman Major Scott Slaten

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

Response to Alleged Gun Battle in MNB North

In response to the reported gun battle last Friday in the village of Radisheve / Radisevo, KFOR MNB North French infantry troops conducted a search operation throughout the area on Saturday.

It was widely reported in the local press that a four-hour gun battle had occurred when Serbs attacked the village with small arms, machineguns, mortars and cannons. 

The only event that was reported on Saturday in this area by KFOR MNB North, was a patrol that met a group of four-wheeled drive vehicles driving in the area. Included among the passengers were several KPC members to include the commander of KPC Zone 1, Sami Lushtaku and three journalists.  As per KFOR instructions the men and vehicles were inspected. All Weapons Authorization Cards (WAC) were found in order and the party was allowed to continue.

The investigating patrol discovered no evidence of a recent gun battle. There were no wounded or dead discovered, no evidence of shell holes from explosives, no expended small arms casings, no bullet holes in buildings, no dead animals, no recently burned buildings and no shocked local inhabitants.

A discussion with the villagers reported some flares were ignited during the evening of the reported attack but they had no information about a 4-hour gun battle. A tree trunk, with a beehive in it, was discovered burning near the village.

As a result of the alleged incident, KFOR MNB North headquarters has increased security patrols in area and is maintaining close contact with the three families in the village.
   

Protests in Mitrovica

Yesterday afternoon, a crowd of an estimated 1,000 Kosovar Serbs, gathered near the local courthouse in Mitrovice / Mitrovica to protest for the release of a Kosovar Serb man who was arrested Monday by UNMIK Police for suspicion of arson.

Throughout the afternoon the situation remained calm. Just before 1 p.m. KFOR MNB North headquarters reported that the demonstration had ended and the crowd dispersed peacefully. At the same time Mr. Ivanovic announced that another demonstration should take place at 7 p.m., once again asking for the release of the detained Kosovar Serb suspect.

At 3 p.m., it was announced that the international judge reviewing the evidence had decided that the suspect would remain under confinement until witnesses in the case could be further interviewed.

All shops in the area were closed for thirty minutes starting at 7p.m. and 300 -400 then persons gathered between a cross-roads and the courthouse in northern Mitrovice / Mitrovica. 

Mr. Jacic then proceeded to give a speech to a crowd of a thousand people in front of the Mitrovica gas station. In the speech, he demanded the population to remain mobilized and to ask for the release of the arrested man, who is reported as being a member of the SSS bridge watchers.

The local population blocked all routes leading to the courthouse. Several UNMIK Police officers operating in the northern sector of the city were threatened by various groups of Kosovar Serbs.  The members of the courthouse staff were then provided escort back to the southern side of Mitrovica. As of 11p.m, the crowds were reported as dispersing without any additional reports of violence. My latest  update which is of 10 minutes ago states that the crowd is once again forming in Mitrovica.

Weapon Seized During Search Operation

An MNB Centre search operation, which began on Monday and centred on the village of Miradi e Eperme/ Gornje Dobrevo, concluded yesterday with a significant discovery of weapons and narcotics.

The search uncovered four rifles, one machine gun, two pistols, two grenades, 360 rounds of ammunition and various items of military equipment.  It also uncovered three fields of cannabis, which is also known as marijuana, and four boxes of narcotics.    
     
Vehicle checkpoints were established to monitor vehicles entering and leaving the town. A systematic search of the houses and surrounding fields then took place.  A task force of 400 KFOR Norwegian troops headed the operation. They were supported by soldiers specially trained in conducting search operations from the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the Swedish and Finnish Battalions and the Scots Dragoon Guards. 

KFOR Norwegian command will be holding a weapons amnesty program until the end of July in the Fushe Kosove/ Kosovo Polje municipality. During this period anyone in possession of an illegal weapon can hand it in to a KFOR base without fear of reprisal. In cases of unexploded ordnance, they should notify KFOR soldiers who will then have specially trained members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit safely dispose of the items.

Hit and Run

A speeding vehicle struck a ten-year-old Kosovar Albanian boy in an attempted hit and run accident yesterday in the town of Gjilan / Gnjilane.

KFOR MNB East US soldiers assigned to Task Force 1-36, reported observing a civilian vehicle driving through the city streets at a high rate of speed. The driver of the vehicle then lost control and struck a parked car.

A KFOR US dismounted patrol approached the accident and the driver panicked and attempted to flee the scene in his vehicle. While speeding away he stuck the boy who was riding his bicycle. The impact knocked the boy down and dragged him along the street for ten meters before finally stopping.

The KFOR US soldiers immediately went to the boys. assistance and began to provide first aid. UNMIK Police arrived on the scene within two minutes and transported the boy to the local hospital for treatment. An eyewitness at the scene stated that the boy appeared to be in serious condition.

The driver of the vehicle was then arrested by UNMIK Police and transported to the Gjilan / Gnjilane Information Center for questioning. UNMIK Police is continuing to investigate.

Train Service Restarted

Starting today, KFOR passenger train service between Kosovo Polje and Zvecan has resumed. The service was halted due to mechanical difficulties. The train schedule will run as normal.

OSCE Spokesman Roland Bless

Good afternoon everybody.

Today is the last day of registration. No further extension will be granted. As you know we have extended the process for three days to accommodate late registering following an  increased demands last week . However preliminary figures for this week shows that demand has now trickled off. As a result, there will be no further extension. Registration Centres around Kosovo today will close at the normal time of 19:00 hours in the evening. However, anyone still waiting after the application process at that time will be accommodated, meaning sites will be opened until the last customer is served. We have slightly over one million people which have registered within Kosovo, and 150, 000 people who have registered outside of Kosovo. If I call this a successful end to the registration process, let me give you give the big pictures in terms of figures and estimates so that you can situate it for yourself. The turn out committee which was made of demographic experts from Kosovars and internationals came to the conclusion that the actual population of Kosovo is 1.9 million. As you know, we only registered 16 years and older. That part of the population makes 65% of the total. 65% of 1.9 million is 1.2 million. If we have passed the  one million mark and given that the Serb community numbering100, 000 persons hasn. t registered,  you can see that there are not many persons left out of the registration process, I think that this is a result that we can all be proud of, and that the Kosovars especially can be congratulated. I am glad to the any question on this if there is any.

Questions

Q: I gather Police were told to stay indoors in the north of Mitrovica yesterday that seems that UNMIK seems to loose control of North of Mitrovica. What is the reason for not deploying Police in the area anymore?

SM: The police are there, but as you say, they are those the town of North of Mitrovica. We have to see what develops today. However UNMIK Police are not technically in charge of controlling Mitrovica. They have primacy for investigations. Basically they will continue that duty,  and hopefully they will be patrolling again to the later today.

Q: Last night when the Serbs were going to the apartments of UNMIK Police, and they also took two officers hostage from Zimbabwe. Have those two UNMIK Police been released yet?

SM: I believe that was a temporary situation, and there are no hostages currently

Q: Does this mean that Oliver Ivanovic has control of the North of Mitrovica and does it mean that he is putting the pre-conditions to UNMIK and KFOR?

SM: Well, he sometimes seems to be a broker of events. He often offers his services but I don. t know to what benefits his services have been. I wouldn. t say he is control but he is a de facto political leader who attempts to use his influence and apparently has a great deal. We and General Nash work fairly closely with him.

SS:  Both KFOR and UNMIK are present there. He is as Susan stated, de facto leader of the Serb population in that area, General Sublet meets with him and discusses the situation in order to try and gain Serbs support in reducing the level of violence reactions of the Serb population there. But to say that he has control, is I would say erroneous.

Q: How many Serbs, and how many people from North of Mitrovica were arrested after all roadblocks. And what is happening there?

SM: We don. t have any arrest report from last night.

SS: Most of the reports that came in yesterday stated that the crowd was very peaceful, no one was wounded, there was no major injuries, there was no major damage of property.

Q: But if Serbs get into the UNMIK Police apartments, what. s going to happen with civilians? And isn. t any penalty of breaking into apartments?

SM: The story is not over. This happened last night between allegedly 20 Serbs and a couple of police officers. If the policemen know who these people are there may be arrests forthcoming, but not last night.

SS: And this is a reminder that the entire incident has started because of the fact that accused suspect has been arrested for crimes perpetrated in earlier time. We. ll continuing conducting investigations and if we have someone as suspect, specifically we know who they are, we will arrest them.

Q: May be one general question about this. Is not the first time that something like this happens in Mitrovica. Do people in UNMIK Police have a detailed plan or some plan, so that when something happens again in Mitrovica, they can react very quickly, since it will be a repetitive scene, because this had happened in February this year?

SM: Yes, they have had plan of patrolling, of working together. They have been doing that, as I said earlier, Dr Kouchner, General Ortuno and Police Commissioner Frederickson are meeting to review all these plans and see if there are any new measures that they should come up with.

SS:  KFOR is always conducting plans in reference to the security situation, not only in Mitrovica, but in other areas here in Kosovo. We assess them on daily basis. However, once again, I have to say that last night events, no one was wounded, no one was killed and that our utmost is to deal with the situation in calm and professional manner in order to diminish the amount of violence that is occurring here in Kosovo. If our reaction only exacerbates and increases the level of violence, then we become part of the problem and not part of the solution. However, we are ready to react if the Serb community or any other areas the Albanian community decide to respond in extreme violence, we are prepared to react quickly to take care of that situation.

Q: As far as I. ve seen in North of Mitrovica, cars haven. t got Kosovo number plates. Traffic Police don. t issue traffic tickets. That raises the question of the authority of UNMIK there. Do you consider that UNMIK Police are showing the power in the North of Mitrovica. You said that it. s not the job of UNMIK police to deal with security in North of Mitrovica itself, that means that KFOR is responsible .

SM:  I am trying to explain that it. s a technical situation where the primacy for security in Mitrovica still rests with KFOR. It doesn. t mean that UNMIK Police do not make arrests, and are not responsible for control of the public order. Yes, they are, in conjunction with KFOR who is responsible for security overall..

Q: But not register the cars means that UNMIK Police order was not respected, what do they do, do they tow away the cars like they do in Pristina for example,& the situation is not normal there, is it?

SM: Yes, you. re right. The cars there in general have not been registered as they have in the rest of Kosovo..

Police media relations Officer Andreij Stepen: I can't give any figure on this matter now, but if you come in our office I can find out for you. .. I am not asking you to be patient, but try to understand us. We do our best and what is going on in Mitrovica is not because of our wish not to do better. We have got Police officer from 49 countries. Again, we are in the process of securing security there.

Q: If you  are doing your job, how do you get Police officers being kidnapped and held in their apartments?

AS: If you go back to the situation we had few months ago, you can see the big progress on the street. It. s not what we exepect.

SM: it was a tense and difficult night last night, but as Major Slaten pointed out it was because we had arrested someone. If you compare it to recent times it has been more orderly in northern Mitrovica. We raised it today because we want to let you know we. re extremely concerned and the situation is not peaceful, is tense and we. re continuing to look for ways to work out the public order of northern Mitrovica with KFOR.

SS: To put it into perspective also I. m glad you mentioned the registration issue because KFOR and UNMIK police are working closely now to improving the vehicular issue here in Kosovo because as it stands right now the most dangerous place in Kosovo is in a car driving on the street. The majority of people being killed here in Kosovo are due to vehicular accidents and crazy driving. So they. re working on improving the programs for issuing tickets, for checking the registrations and that should all be moving forward as we speak.

Nick Wood, BBC: Since February there have been at least two major riots in Northern Mitrovica, there. ve been numerous incidents there on a weekly basis. Apart from arresting one bridge watcher in the last two days, what progress, Susan, do you think you. ve made in establishing security in Mitrovica, if you could sum it up?

SM: Well the bulk violence in Mitrovica was in February and in March; it hasn. t ever resumed to the level we saw in February and March where we had 8 Albanians killed in Northern Mitrovica and grenades thrown in cafes in Northern Mitrovica--all in one night.

Q: So you think the current situation is a major improvement on acceptable?

SM: It. s an improvement, but clearly it is not a situation that anyone is happy with. It. s a divided city where crowds can erupt at a moment when our police are trying to do their job. It sounds like small progress, but because of a man being arrested we have persisted and we are arresting people. Trials are proceeding in Northern Mitrovica. Trials of mostly Serb defendants. But obviously some people in Mitrovica are not terribly happy with some of this progress, at least not the extremists there.

Q: I am trying to see what progress there is. Since February, the situation has remained pretty much the same?

SM: In what sense?

Q: In a sense that riots, intimidation, expulsions from houses continue. It does not seem to change at all.

SS: The expulsions are far their previous rates and 250 Albanian families have returned to their apartment blocks. We cannot claim great progress. Obviously, I would not have mentioned last night's incidents, if it were not clearly a setback, especially in the relations between Police and the Serb community. It is a tense situation, but it is not as bad as February and March. There are small and gradual improvements.

SS: Although it is a politically charged issue, if you look at the statistics. MNB North is not leading the pack as far as reported acts of violence. MNB Center has the greatest number of murder, arsons, kidnappings that have been reported since last year. The reason for that is obviously because of the population. It is a misperception to think that the majority of the violence is being conducted in MNN North.

Q: Several trials have been postponed in Northern Mitrovica due to the circumstances and pressures from the Serbs.  Do you think that the investigations on the person arrested by the police will stop because of these same pressures?

SM: The test of that was passed last night and the last few days when he has not been released against quite a bit of pressure. The trials have been postponed, mostly for technical reasons that lie with us, or because the Serb lay judges appointed by us sometimes did not show up. It is an inching kind of progress. It is a very difficult situation now. There are Serbs in the Northern part of Mitrovica who would like to work with UNMIK and with the Joint Interim Administrative Structure, but they are often confined by others in the area. We are working on convincing the communities to work with us. As you can see with the registration, it. s not always successful. But the situation has been more stable than several months ago.

Q: Agim Ceku has announced today the creation of group of about 100 people from KPC, in charge of the internal problems within KPC. He requested also a weapon license for these people. Will you give that authorization?

SM: He made that statement half an hour ago. I have to find out for you. Currently, there are approximatively 190 KPC members with weapons licenses. They are mainly bodyguards and security officers.

Q: In the registration in Leposavic, what kind of extra security measures are you going to employ today, so that the Serbs who want to register can register? How many Serbs have registered in Leposavic and how many Serbs have registered in Leposavic or in other parts, as well as how many minorities in total have registered?

RB: The security was increased. They are police and KFOR elements that. T About the figures in Leposavic, only a handful of people have registered. I mean less than ten. Having said that, the Serbian population nor in Leposavic nor anywhere else is participating in the registration process.  Overall figures, I do not have, as I have stated several times, we don. t ask for ethnicity. So we will only come to an assessment on the overall population pattern, once the data are entered.

Q: In April, an agreement was signed between the Roma community and the main political parties here. They agree that they have got the right to return to their homes. What progress has been made in getting Romas back to their homes? I am not talking just about visits to camps by political leaders that have not been taken place

SM: I know that there have been some returns, but I don. t know the numbers.
 I have to find out for you.

Q: Are there been an evacuation of international judges and prosecutors from Northern side and is it true that Yesterday there was given an order for evacuation of all international staff from the Court House in the North of Mitrovica, leaving the local staff behind?

SM: People who were stuck in the Court building and released last night were apparently predominantly local staff, but what exactly happened with the international staff is not clear. They may have left earlier. Also the International staff working in the Southern side did not return to their homes on the Northern side.

SS: What is important to me is that we were requested to provide security for the evacuation of the staff from the Courthouse. There was no differentiation between local or international staff made.