U.N. Kosovo Translator Feared Kidnapped Turns Up Safe And Well
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AFP) - A Serbian U.N. translator feared kidnapped during a demonstration by Serbs in the divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica, has turned up safe and well, a U.N. spokeswoman said Friday.
The NATO peacekeeping force KFOR said Thursday that a female translator had been abducted during a demonstration by some 150 Serbs protesting against a series of raids on Serbian houses in Mitrovica.
"We now understand that she fled the situation and has phoned to say she is okay," said Claire Trevena, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
During Thursday's demonstration, an UNMIK police car was destroyed and one police officer slightly injured.
Trouble flared after a joint KFOR and UNMIK operation arrested three Serbs during houseraids that uncovered a cache of arms.
Mitrovica has in the past been the scene of fierce clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
The two communities are separated by the river Ibar that runs through the center of the town, dividing the Serb-majority north and ethnic Albanian south, although pockets of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Roma gypsies live on both banks.
As in the rest of the Serbian province, NATO troops and U.N. police have been responsible for security in Mitrovica since Kosovo came under the control of the international community after the NATO bombardments of Yugoslavia which ended in June last year.
Mitrovica was calm on both sides of the Ibar Friday, KFOR officials said.
