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KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (September 24, 1999 11:39 a.m. EDT ) - In the ethnically tense city of Kosovska Mitrovica, hundreds of Serbs protested Friday demanding the dissolution of an organization formed to succeed the former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.
If the Kosovo Protection Corps is not disbanded, the Serbs want permission to form their own armed unit.
Serb protesters barricaded the hospital in their half of Kosovska Mitrovica, chanting "Serbia, Serbia," and threatening foreign reporters. French peacekeepers moved in, along with U.N. and military police.
Serbs tried to remove communications equipment from the ethnic Albanian side of the divided city, but were stopped by French police. Crowds of ethnic Albanians formed to stop further attempts, prompting the Serb demonstration.
After meeting in their self-styled Serbian National Council, the Serbs declared the Kosovo Protection Corps illegal and decided to demand permission to form a Serbian unit in northern Kosovo, where most Serbs remaining in the province of Kosovo live.
Serb spokesman Nikola Kabasic said the group had written Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson, commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force, and Bernard Kouchner, the top U.N. representative in Kosovo. He said the Serbs would ask for the same equipment and training that NATO has authorized for the ethnic Albanian-majority corps.
Momcilo Trajkovic said that he and other Serbs would end their boycott of an interim Serb-ethnic Albanian council meant to help administer Kosovo only if NATO and the United Nations agree to either disband the corps or let Serbs form their own units.
The corps is described by U.N. and NATO officials as a civilian organization, but Serbs see it as a replacement for the KLA.
Although membership will be open to Serbs, the corps will be commanded by Agim Ceku, the former KLA commander. Most of his regional commanders from the KLA will assume leadership roles in the corps.
A NATO spokesman, Maj. Ole Irgens, said that about 300 people have applied to join the new organization since interviewing began three days ago. The corps will consist of 5,000 people.
NATO and the United Nations face a difficult challenge in finding a way to meet ethnic Albanian aspirations for self-rule in Kosovo without provoking Serbs into pursuing plans that could lead to the effective ethnic partition of the province.
NATO's victory over the Serbs in the 78-day bombing campaign and the forced departure of Serb-led Yugoslav forces have raised ethnic Albanian aspirations to break free of Serbia, the main Yugoslav republic that maintains nominal sovereignty.
However, the U.N. Security Council resolution that established the peacekeeping mission affirmed Serb sovereignty over Kosovo.
In its investigation of possible crimes committed during the bombing, the U.N. war crimes tribunal confirmed it is looking into reports that a lead and zinc mine near Kosovska Mitrovica served as a mass grave for possibly hundreds of bodies.
Kelly Moore of the tribunal declined to comment on whether the reports were accurate or to divulge details until the investigation is complete, probably sometime next week.