U.S. outrage as Serb protesters burn embassy
Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:37pm EST
By Ellie Tzortzi
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serb protesters ransacked and set fire to the U.S.
embassy
in Belgrade on Thursday, venting anger at U.S. support for Kosovo's
declaration
of independence.
A charred body was later found inside, but all American personnel had been
accounted for and nothing suggested it was an embassy employee, U.S.
officials
said.
Riot police -- nowhere to be seen when the attack began -- eventually
moved in
to disperse the rampaging protesters but Washington was furious.
At U.S. request, the U.N. Security Council condemned "mob attacks" on the
embassy in Belgrade.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called Serbian Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to protest at the lack
of
security.
"The message was very clear, that the situation was intolerable, that they
needed to act immediately to provide adequate security," a State
Department
spokesman said.
Kostunica, who had earlier addressed a state-backed rally by some 200,000
Serbs
against Kosovo's secession, had promised it would not happen again.
There were lesser attacks on other diplomatic missions, but none was
entered.
Germany said its embassy was attacked, Croatia protested over damage and
local
agencies said missions of Britain, Turkey and Bosnia were also hit.
Hospital officials said around 150 people were injured in street clashes,
including 30 police and a Dutch reporter.
Serbia's foreign minister swiftly condemned the violence by a few hundred
"vandals".
Jeremic told Reuters in an interview the attacks on embassies and foreign
businesses were unacceptable and regrettable acts by isolated extremists.
"They hurt Serbia's image abroad, they do not represent the collective
feeling
of the Serbian people," he said. "Acts of violence are not going to be
permitted
on the streets of Belgrade or anywhere in Serbia."
Gangs also vandalized shops and banks, especially Western ones, leaving a
trail
of smashed glass and debris. There was some looting.
Serbia considers Kosovo its historic heartland and has waged a diplomatic
campaign against the secession of the predominantly ethnic Albanian
region,
which declared independence on Sunday.
Thursday's "people's rally" from which the rioters emerged was Serbia's
biggest
since protesters filled the streets in 2000 and stormed the old Yugoslav
parliament building to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.
"As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia," Kostunica told the crowd in front
of the
same building.
"We're not alone in our fight. President (Vladimir) Putin is with us," he
said,
paying tribute to the Russian leader who has opposed U.S. and European
states'
recognition of Kosovo.
The rally had been subdued as Serbs of all ages listened to speeches,
melancholic patriotic songs and poems about Kosovo, seen as the birthplace
of a
medieval kingdom and Serbia's religious roots.
NO POLICE
When police arrived to disperse the crowd at the U.S. embassy -- under
attack
for the second time in a week -- they fired teargas and beat and detained
rioters. They secured the streets and tried to cordon off the whole
embassy
district.
Rioters -- many wearing balaclavas and scarves to hide their faces -- had
attacked the U.S. embassy with sticks and metal bars after destroying two
guard
boxes outside.
They ripped metal grilles from windows and tore a handrail off the
entrance to
use as a battering ram and gain entry.
One man climbed up and ripped the Stars and Stripes off its pole.
Other people jumped up and down on the balcony, holding up a Serbian flag
as the
crowd below of about 1,000 people cheered them on, shouting "Serbia,
Serbia".
Black smoke billowed out of the embassy. Papers and chairs were thrown out
of
the windows, with doors wedged in the window frames and burning. American
officials said only security personnel were at the embassy at the time, in
a
different area.
PRAYERS
Meanwhile, the main rally proceeded as planned with a march to the city's
biggest Orthodox cathedral for a prayer service.
State television switched between scenes of the rioting and the serenity
of
choral singing at the church service.
The lack of passion at the main rally appeared to support comments by
Western
analysts and some ordinary people that most Serbs were bitter but resigned
to
the loss of Kosovo and tired of years of conflict with neighboring states.
"I don't think this protest might change anything, but I don't see any
other way
to express my dissatisfaction," said Danica, a government employee who
declined
to give her surname.
In other protests, several hundred Serb army veterans stoned Kosovo police
at a
border before dispersing. No one was hurt.
In Banja Luka in Bosnia, several people were hurt when protesters clashed
with
police at the U.S. consulate.
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