World

Kosovo: Serbs Encircle U.S. Troops

March 2, 2000 / 5:53 AM EST / AP

A crowd of chanting Serb civilians surrounded a platoon of U.S. soldiers for six hours in a small village in eastern Kosovo, angrily insisting they hand over a Serb suspect detained in a weapons search, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The standoff in Gornje Kusce ended only after the 15 soldiers conducting a weapons search sought reinforcements and the Serbs let them leave, said Maj. Debbie Allen, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces.

No injuries were reported, but the government-run Yugoslav news agency Tanjug said American troops beat up three Serbs and arrested one. U.S. officials could not be reached for comment.

The standoff began Wednesday evening when soldiers conducting a weapons search detained a Serb man after finding two AK-47s and several hundred rounds of ammunition in his home. Some 200 Serbs gathered, and refused to disperse despite efforts by the soldiers to negotiate their way out.

After three hours, the troops called for reinforcements. About 60 soldiers arrived, but could not extricate the platoon. More reinforcements were called, but the situation was defused only when the crowd permitted the soldiers to leave with the suspect.

About 100 soldiers had converged on the tiny village by the time the standoff was over.

The village was the site of a massive funeral for a Serb doctor slain last week.

Tanjug said the standoff occurred because U.S. troops conducted a "brutal" search in the village. Serbs were especially angered by the appearance of "uniformed ethnic Albanians together with the Americans."

It was unclear who the "uniformed ethnic Albanians" were but ethnic Albanian interpreters who accompany American troops wear green camouflage fatigues and helmets like the U.S. soldiers.