February 11, 2009 3:24 PM
- Text
U.S. Diplomats On Alert After Attacks
(CBS/AP)
The U.S. ambassador to Serbia has asked the State Department to evacuate some diplomats from the embassy in Belgrade following an attack on the compound.
The envoy, Cameron Munter, has asked for the department to implement an "ordered departure" of all nonessential personnel and the families of all American staff at the embassy, a senior State Department official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the department has not yet approved the request.
The step comes as U.S. diplomats around the Balkans are on alert, girding for more anti-American violence after Serb rioters stormed and torched the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
Protests over the declaration of independence by the former Serbian province of Kosovo have increased tensions across the region. And new mass demonstrations are expected following recognition of Kosovo by the United States and other Western countries.
In the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica Friday, United Nations police guarding a key bridge were attacked by angry Serbs hurling stones, glass bottles and firecrackers.
The Serb demonstrators chanted "Kosovo is ours!" on their fifth day of protests since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence.
American embassies in at least four former Yugoslav republics have stepped up security, ordering diplomats to stay home or limit their movements and warning Americans to use extreme caution outside.
A day after the fiery attack on the Belgrade embassy compound - in which at least one protester was killed - the mission was closed and U.S. diplomats in the Serbian capital were told not to leave their houses.
"U.S. Embassy officials have been advised to stand fast in their residences and avoid movement," the embassy said in a notice to American citizens in Serbia. "American citizens are urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations and to exercise extreme caution."
"U.S. citizens are urged to avoid large crowds, maintain a low profile and review their personal protective measures," the embassy said, adding that it would also be closed on Monday.
"Demonstrators may arrive in large numbers from other parts of Montenegro or Serbia by all modes of transportation throughout the day," the embassy said in a notice. "American citizens are urged to exercise extreme caution."
"The U.S. Embassy in Podgorica is now aware of at least two cases of vandalism directed at a vehicle with U.S. license plates and a vehicle with license plates from the municipality of Ulcinj, an area with a majority Albanian population," it said. "American citizens are encouraged to exercise caution when driving their vehicles."
In Bosnia, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo told diplomats to defer travel until further notice to the city of Banja Luka, where protesters on Thursday hurled rocks and stones at the U.S. embassy branch.
In Kosovo itself, the State Department advised U.S. citizens against any travel to the northern part of the new country, where ethnic Serbs predominate. U.S. Ambassador Charles English also said that he decided to temporarily close the consulate in the northwestern city of Banja Luka, a day after protesters burned the U.S. flag and tried to storm the consulate building. Bosnian Serb officials could not discount the possibility of further violence.
Kosovo Official: Riots Were "A Reaction Against A Democratic World"
In his first interview since Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, Kosovo's prime minister Hashim Thaci called Thursday night's storming of the U.S. Embassy and attacks on other foreign compounds "terrible," and said it harkened back to the former Serbian leader's bloody 1998-99 crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.
"The pictures of yesterday in Belgrade were pictures of Milosevic's time," Thaci, a former guerrilla leader of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, said at his office in Pristina, the capital.
"What we saw were terrible things," he said. "It was a reaction against a democratic world."
But Thaci expressed confidence that NATO's peacekeeping force - and Kosovo's swift recognition by the U.S. and key European powers - would ensure the new nation remains secure.
"What we saw yesterday in Belgrade is past," he said. "My message to Serbs in Serbia is to look forward and not to work with the mentality of the past, with the mentality of Milosevic's time."
Pro-Western politicians accused hard-line nationalists in the government of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of inciting the violence in order to demonstrate Serbia's anger at Kosovo's independence bid. The European Union said Serbia's negotiations to join the bloc would be put on hold.
NATO forces tightened security on Kosovo's border with Serbia on Friday in an effort to keep protesters from crossing into the new country.
"Definitely there will be peace and stability," Thaci told the AP. "The security of Kosovo is a guarantee of NATO and no one can attack. Everything is under control."
The envoy, Cameron Munter, has asked for the department to implement an "ordered departure" of all nonessential personnel and the families of all American staff at the embassy, a senior State Department official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the department has not yet approved the request.
The step comes as U.S. diplomats around the Balkans are on alert, girding for more anti-American violence after Serb rioters stormed and torched the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
Protests over the declaration of independence by the former Serbian province of Kosovo have increased tensions across the region. And new mass demonstrations are expected following recognition of Kosovo by the United States and other Western countries.
In the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica Friday, United Nations police guarding a key bridge were attacked by angry Serbs hurling stones, glass bottles and firecrackers.
The Serb demonstrators chanted "Kosovo is ours!" on their fifth day of protests since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence.
American embassies in at least four former Yugoslav republics have stepped up security, ordering diplomats to stay home or limit their movements and warning Americans to use extreme caution outside.
A day after the fiery attack on the Belgrade embassy compound - in which at least one protester was killed - the mission was closed and U.S. diplomats in the Serbian capital were told not to leave their houses.
"U.S. Embassy officials have been advised to stand fast in their residences and avoid movement," the embassy said in a notice to American citizens in Serbia. "American citizens are urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations and to exercise extreme caution."
Kosovo's prime minister on Friday denounced the violent protests in Belgrade as reminiscent of Slobodan Milosevic's wartime rule, telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that Serbia must reject "the mentality of the past." [See below.]Several other embassies in Belgrade as well as a McDonald's restaurant were attacked by mobs on Thursday after a massive protest against Kosovo independence, and the warning noted that private businesses and organizations affiliated with the United States might also become targets for protesters.
"U.S. citizens are urged to avoid large crowds, maintain a low profile and review their personal protective measures," the embassy said, adding that it would also be closed on Monday.
In Podgorica, the capital of neighboring Montenegro, which was once joined with Serbia, the U.S. Embassy and international school shut down ahead of a mass protest that is feared could lead to violence, and it warned of vandalism against U.S. citizens and their property.
"Demonstrators may arrive in large numbers from other parts of Montenegro or Serbia by all modes of transportation throughout the day," the embassy said in a notice. "American citizens are urged to exercise extreme caution."
"The U.S. Embassy in Podgorica is now aware of at least two cases of vandalism directed at a vehicle with U.S. license plates and a vehicle with license plates from the municipality of Ulcinj, an area with a majority Albanian population," it said. "American citizens are encouraged to exercise caution when driving their vehicles."
In Bosnia, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo told diplomats to defer travel until further notice to the city of Banja Luka, where protesters on Thursday hurled rocks and stones at the U.S. embassy branch.
In Kosovo itself, the State Department advised U.S. citizens against any travel to the northern part of the new country, where ethnic Serbs predominate. U.S. Ambassador Charles English also said that he decided to temporarily close the consulate in the northwestern city of Banja Luka, a day after protesters burned the U.S. flag and tried to storm the consulate building. Bosnian Serb officials could not discount the possibility of further violence.
Kosovo Official: Riots Were "A Reaction Against A Democratic World"
In his first interview since Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, Kosovo's prime minister Hashim Thaci called Thursday night's storming of the U.S. Embassy and attacks on other foreign compounds "terrible," and said it harkened back to the former Serbian leader's bloody 1998-99 crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.
"The pictures of yesterday in Belgrade were pictures of Milosevic's time," Thaci, a former guerrilla leader of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, said at his office in Pristina, the capital.
"What we saw were terrible things," he said. "It was a reaction against a democratic world."
But Thaci expressed confidence that NATO's peacekeeping force - and Kosovo's swift recognition by the U.S. and key European powers - would ensure the new nation remains secure.
"What we saw yesterday in Belgrade is past," he said. "My message to Serbs in Serbia is to look forward and not to work with the mentality of the past, with the mentality of Milosevic's time."
Pro-Western politicians accused hard-line nationalists in the government of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of inciting the violence in order to demonstrate Serbia's anger at Kosovo's independence bid. The European Union said Serbia's negotiations to join the bloc would be put on hold.
NATO forces tightened security on Kosovo's border with Serbia on Friday in an effort to keep protesters from crossing into the new country.
"Definitely there will be peace and stability," Thaci told the AP. "The security of Kosovo is a guarantee of NATO and no one can attack. Everything is under control."
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