Tear gas fired as Kosovo police arrest Serbian official (Associated Press, The Independent)
Tensions have risen between the two neighbours, who fought a bloody war in the late 1990s.
Kosovo police have fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters as they arrested a Serb official after he was banned from visiting a divided town in northern Kosovo, according to reports.
It is a move likely to inflame tensions between the two foes, who fought a brutal war in 1999.
Serbia’s government quickly announced that the country’s state security council would hold an emergency meeting.
Video footage showed Kosovo policemen in black uniforms with machine guns and body armour leading a handcuffed man from inside a building towards an armoured car. Video also showed a conference room inside the building in northern Mitrovica with chairs and tables upended.
Serbia state TV said that Marko Djuric, the chief Serb negotiator in European Union-led talks between Serbia and Kosovo, was arrested. The action triggered protests and Kosovo police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades, the report said. Serbian TV said its cameraman was injured and his equipment was destroyed during the incident.
Mr Djuric was later taken out of a police van under tight security in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital.
“The brutal police action is surprising. Maybe they want to provoke a Serbian reaction,” said Milovan Drecun, a ruling Serbian party MP in the parliament.