Serb police officers in Kosovo refuse to work with Albanian colleagues

KOSOVO:SERB POLICE in Kosovo are refusing to work alongside their Albanian colleagues, in the latest stage in a Belgrade-led drive to divide the new state along ethnic lines.

More than one-quarter of the 700-800 Serb members of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) have resigned or failed to turn up for work since the 90 per cent Albanian region declared sovereignty on February 17th - and those still reporting for duty are under pressure to quit.

In the Serb town of Gracanica, all 126 Serb members of the regional KPS force abandoned their posts yesterday. Serb officers in the southern Strpce enclave are also boycotting work, as are about 100 officers in the eastern Gnjilane region.

In the Serb stronghold of northern Kosovo, Serb officers already report to UN police units rather than the KPS. Many of the policemen who have resigned in recent days in other enclaves also demand the right to work with the UN police service rather than a force that they say represents a state which they, and Belgrade, do not recognise.

The resignations appear to be part of an "action plan" drawn up by the Serb government to respond to Kosovo's declaration of independence, which Belgrade and Russia say is illegal and will destabilise the Balkans.

Serb gangs have also destroyed two border posts between Serbia and Kosovo and attacked international vehicles in Mitrovica, most recently on Thursday, when two UN vehicles were blown up. No serious injuries have resulted from any of the incidents in Kosovo, though one man died and dozens were hurt in anti-independence riots in Belgrade.

Kosovo Serb officials vow to ignore Kosovo's central government and EU oversight mission and establish a parallel administration with strong links to Belgrade.

"We absolutely oppose the partition of Kosovo. And the great majority of countries around the world are not going to stand for that," said senior US diplomat Nicholas Burns.

Pieter Feith, the new international envoy for Kosovo, added: "There will be no partition of the country . . . An international presence will be deployed throughout the territory and we won't admit any parallel institution."