7 Aug 2008
Britain criticizes U.N. probe into Kosovo raid
Russian and British delegations have been sparring over a U.N. probe into a raid of a courthouse occupied by Serbian protesters, which resulted in the death of a Ukrainian peacekeeper.
“While we do support an investigation, we don’t believe that all the facts were properly aired in this case,” British Deputy U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters after a Security Council briefing about the matter.
U.N. police and NATO troops raided the U.N. court in the town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo on March 17 to retake it from Serbs who had forcibly occupied the building three days earlier in protest at Kosovo declaring independence.
The report “does not sufficiently take into account the situation on the ground,” Pierce said.
“This was a premeditated attack on the international personnel in Kosovo,” she said. “The demonstrators had access to long-barreled weapons, to petrol bombs, to grenades, these are not things found lying around the average courtroom.”
The raid also seriously wounded several Serb protesters according to reports.
Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, has repeatedly criticized the raid and Western support for Kosovo’s secession. He said last week that the U.N. probe found commanders had ignored advice from U.N. headquarters against storming the building. A written report on the investigation has not been released yet but Western U.N. diplomats confirmed what Churkin said.