Free Republic

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (AFP) - UN police were forced to withdraw Monday from the Serb-populated part of this flashpoint Kosovo town after coming under attack as they stormed a court occupied by Serbs opposed to independence. Police said more than 100 people were injured as the troops met gunfire and suspected grenade blasts in the worst violence to have flared in Kosovo since its independence declaration a month ago on February 17. The clashes erupted after UN police and NATO-led KFOR (Kosovo Force) troops surrounded the courthouse in Kosovska Mitrovica for a pre-dawn raid to evict the Serb protestors. Kosovo police...

United Nations (UN) police in Kosovo have fired tear gas and rubber bullets during clashes with ethnic Albanians protesting against a UN plan they say falls short of full independence from Serbia. Hospital officials say they have treated 70 people, including four who were seriously wounded. Fourteen people were arrested as Kosovo and UN riot police advanced on hundreds of demonstrators who were hurling stones and bottles. The clashes, a repeat of riots in November, underscored Western fears of what the United States described last week as a possible "breakdown in order" if a decision on the Albanian majority's demand...

Cops honoured for overseas duty Waterloo regional police Insp. Dan Anderson shows his newest medal (left) that he received at region council chambers in Kitchener yesterday for his service in the former Yugoslavia. The latest medal is next to the United Nations service medal and a 20-year service police medal. KITCHENER -- Insp. Dan Anderson will never see his badge the same way. Now when he's greeted by an immigrant's distrustful eyes, he knows the reason and offers an extra touch of compassion. It was an understanding the Waterloo regional police officer gained after a six-month peacekeeping mission in Bosnia...