Here's a picture from 2003
Posted on 12/07/2006 6:42:27 PM PST by Celebratelife008
Masked, armed persons reappear in Kosovo 7 December 2006 | 11:00 | Source: B92 PRIŠTINA -- The KPS stated that unidentified armed persons wearing masks have opened check points around the region.
The Kosovo Police Service stated that these groups have been stopping people and asking for identification.
According to police officials, the armed groups were setting up check points last night on village roads.
Police quickly responded to calls from citizens.
In a village near Ðakovica, there was gun fire exchanged between the armed group and police officers. There were no injuries and the armed assailants fled into a nearby wooded area.
Early last week, police commands reported that there are serious threats to UNMIK personnel and property, which increased the level of security in the province.
A week later it was announced that security levels would be returned to their normal states.
When is Halloween in Kosovo?
Well B92, what happened next? Did they just check IDs and then say, "Have a nice day" or did they do something to specific people or groups of people?
By Matt Robinson
Dec 8, 2006 — PRISTINA, Serbia (Reuters) - The United Nations urged patience in Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province on Friday following reports of armed men patrolling the tense west.
Their appearance follows a decision to delay until 2007 a decision on independence from Serbia which the 90 percent Albanian majority is demanding.
Residents of western Kosovo were quoted in newspapers on Friday as saying armed men in black uniforms and masks had been stopping cars at night and checking documents.
Local media reported a brief gunfight and police confirmed at least one checkpoint was set up by armed men near the town of Djakovica, 80 km (57 miles) from the capital Pristina. The men claimed to be part of the shadowy Albanian National Army (ANA), which the U.N. branded a terrorist group in 2003.
The United Nations-run province is braced for possible violence after Western powers and Russia last month agreed to put off proposals for Kosovo's "final status" until after a Serbian general election on January 21.
U.N. governor Joachim Ruecker said police were taking the incidents seriously. His deputy, American ex-general Steven Schook, urged patience.
"I am confident that you will get status very quickly," he told residents of the central Kosovo town of Malisevo.
"The only activity that would derail the process would be unilateral action or threats to the security of anyone right now," said Schook. "We are very close to the finish line."
"DAMAGING"
Some two million Albanians form the majority of Kosovo's population. Around 100,000 Serbs remain.
Western powers promised Kosovo Albanians a decision this year on the territory's fate, arguing that the status quo was unsustainable more than seven years since NATO bombed Serbia to halt a wave of ethnic cleansing.
But they delayed until spring of 2007 to avoid making the loss of Kosovo an election winner for anti-Western parties in Serbia. Diplomats say some form of independence is likely, but Russian opposition, at least publicly, is hardening.
In a report on Kosovo, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will tell the Security Council next week that "fringe groups and extremists" stand ready to exploit widespread frustration.
Prime Minister Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla leader, said such groups were "damaging the image and security of Kosovo."
Dismissed by some diplomats as little more than an "internet army," the ANA has claimed responsibility for attacks in Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia's southern Presevo Valley since 1999.
The NATO Force, KFOR, said on Friday it was aware of the incidents, but they should not be "blown out of proportion."
Illegal checkpoints and ominous communiques were the early hallmarks of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which emerged in 1998 to launch a guerrilla war against Serb forces and at one point controlled 50 percent of the territory.
(Additional reporting by Fatos Bytyci)
8 December 2006 | Source:Beta
PRIŠTINA -- UNMIK Chief Joakim Ruecker said that Martti Ahtisaari’s Kosovo status proposal will be acceptable for all sides.
Ruecker told Free Europe radio that making a one-sided decision would be counterproductive, adding that the international community needs to help in finding a status solution.
“I think we know generally what the elements of the proposal of special envoy Martti Ahtisaari will entail regarding decentralization, the protection of cultural heritage and national minorities, as well as economic issues.” Ruecker said.
“I think that the decentralization will be very good and that it will help gain cohesion in Kosovo politics. There are good experiences with decentralization which improved the level of local administration. This of course helps the nation’s cohesiveness and I expect that this will happen in Kosovo,” he said.
He also accused Belgrade of impeding on the integration of the Kosovo Serbs in the Kosovo institutions.
“I think that the one and greatest problem is the fact that Belgrade is not allowing Kosovo Serbs to integrate into the political and economic life of Kosovo.” Ruecker said.
“I know that the majority of Kosovo Serbs are worried about their future, but I know that their future is in a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo and that they want to be included. I think that the international community, UNMIK and others are with good reason calling on Belgrade to remove all obstacles standing in the way of the Kosovo Serbs.” Ruecker said.
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Muslims are such brave souls they have to hide behind masks and children.
...hey---you are talking about Bill Clinton's balkan allies.
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