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Kosovo Albanians against UN plan for ethnic Serb police

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-03 11:29

PRISTINA -- Kosovo Albanian authorities opposed Saturday the idea for an ethnic Serb police force in the territory, announced by the chief of UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Lamberto Zannier.

Zannier said Friday that difficult, sensitive and complex negotiations were being held with Belgrade and announced a proposal that would create an ethnic Serb police with special autonomy in the command chain within the Kosovo Police Service (KPS).

According to Zannier, the customs might be created on the model of China's Hong Kong, as one territory with two customs zones, anda similar solution would be found for the judiciary.

Objecting that plan, Kosovo government's spokesman Veton Elshani said any other decision except transition is negative for KPS, and not a way to resolve the problem.

"Parallelism of KPS command hierarchy would be a return of KPS development with serious operational problems in the ground," said Elshani.

According to him only northern part of Mitrovica is still in transitional process.

"Only in northern Mitrovica there is still an international regional commander and the main command in Pristina through him implements its orders over there," said Elshani.

More than 300 Serb policemen in central and eastern Kosovo abandoned KPS after Pristina's unilateral declaration of independence in February.

In northern Serb-dominated area Serb policemen continued to serve in KPS uniforms not obeying orders from central command in Pristina, but only to UNMIK police.

Kosovo Albanian opposition MP Naim Maloku said Zannier's plans for divisions in the KPS a wrong step.

"That decision would lose the meaning of a multiethnic police service, and it can't be functional," said Maloku.