February 10, 2000
According to UN police officers in Kosovo, French peacekeepers retreated instead of coming to their aid during an attack last week in the city of Mitrovica. During a Serb-led siege Thursday on an Albanian apartment building, UN police charged into a jeering mob in an attempt to rescue colleagues and ethnic Albanians. When a Serb struck the police force's lead officer, however, French peacekeepers retreated rather than attempting a rescue.
"Every nationality here wants to know why they walked off and left us," said one officer who asked not to be named. "Everyone was calling them, but the French did not respond."
The criticism echoes complaints from local Albanian residents. But French commander Jean Philippe Bernard and other French officers have denied such allegations. "Most Albanians who asked for help received it," Bernard said.
Worst Night Of Violence Since June
Some 4,600 French peacekeepers patrol northern Kosovo, which includes the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica. But UN police officers maintain that French soldiers are not fulfilling their duties. In the Mitrovica siege - the worst night of violence in Kosovo since June - UN officers said French troops did not detain several Serbian assailants and ignored the cries of an ethnic Albanian woman who was being beaten. Danish soldiers, who arrived later in the evening, provided prompt and reliable assistance, officers added (Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post, 9 Feb).
Ethnic Albanians have turned out daily since Thursday to heckle the French troops, accusing them of allowing Mitrovica to slide into partition (Jonathan Steele, London Guardian, 9 Feb). Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says more Albanians are fleeing the city due to insecurity and intimidation. Some 550 ethnic Albanians have fled Serb-controlled northern sector of Mitrovica due to ethnic violence, UNHCR said (UN release, 8 Feb). General Klaus Reinhardt, commander of NATO's KFOR peacekeepers, has defended the actions of the French troops (Richard Mertens, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Feb).
Interim Council Discusses Mitrovica Violence Meanwhile, Kosovo's Interim Administrative Council discussed the violence in Mitrovica at a meeting yesterday. Bernard Kouchner, the chief UN administrator in Kosovo, said the council agreed the first priority was to reestablish law and order and then to start "a real discussion next week" on a strategy for Mitrovica.
"First, we have to secure the people, materially and psychologically, and then to establish common places where they should be able to work together," Kouchner said (UN release, 8 Feb). Kouchner also warned that the international community will not accept the creation of parallel Serbian institutions in the city (Beta news agency/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 8 Feb).
