Balkans: More Kosovo Violence

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January 19, 2006: Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect general Ratko Mladic is apparently in Russia. He had been hiding out in Serbia, but pressure from Western European aid donors caused the Serbs to go looking for Mladic. It appears Mladic has been in Russia for nearly a year, and an attempt to extradite him will be made. Russia has always supported the Serbs, as fellow Slavs. It's part of an old "East-West" thing.

January 18, 2006: More "self determination" protests broke out in Kosovo. A group called Self Determination, composed of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, conducted a protest in the town of Mitrovica which ended in a fight with police. Four policemen were injured. At least two EAK members were arrested. EAK wants the UN to pull out of Kosovo. The EAK also objects to the UN-directed talks between Serbia and Kosovo regarding Kosovo's final political status.

UNMIK police, Kosovar Police, and NATO peacekeepers are aware that more street protests may break out before and during the Serb-Kosovo talks, scheduled to begin January 25. Some 17,500 NATO troops are still on duty in Kosovo, including 1,800 American.

January 17, 2006: EUFOR (the peacekeeping force in Bosnia) reported that its troops conducted a search operation in the Bosnian Serb town of Kozarska Dubica. In a bunker near Kozarska Dubica the troops discovered a weapons cache containing three tons of ammunition. The ammo dump included 120 mm mortar rounds.