Belgrade: Kosovo Albanian minister sent open threat of war

Bajram Rexhepi, who is the Pristina government's interior minister, said such a move would come in order to secure "peace and order".

He told Albanian language daily Koha Ditore that Kosovo police, KPS, has a "signed contract" with the EU mission, EULEX, that enables it to make such moves.

Rexhepi described the personnel he had in mind as "special police forces for operative protection".

"There are Serb policemen within the special unit. They will be sent there to react in order to dispel doubts that these units are against the Serb community," said he.

"They will be tasked with helping restore order and law and if there is need for their help, they will have the right to go to Leposavic, to the border," Rexhepi stated, in reference to the town on the administrative line between central Serbia and Kosovo.

The newspaper also reports that the minister "promised that order would be established in (Kosovska) Mitrovica as well".

The areas of the province north of the Ibar River are predominantly inhabited by Serbs who do not recognize the authority of the government in Pristina, or its unilateral independence declaration made in early 2008.

Last week, one man was killed and 11 others were injured when in an attack as a crowd of Serbs protested against an office the Kosovo Albanian government opened in the northern part of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica. The incident was discussed during the emergency session of the UN Security Council, called by Serbia.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Kosovo Albanian Minister Bajram Rexhepi made open threats of war in a statement made on Friday.

Tadic said that the "temporary institutions in Kosovo will be the only ones responsible for the catastrophic consequences of the eventual implementation of these threats."

Tadic said that such "warmongering statements and other provocations are endangering the fragile peace and stability in northern Kosovo."

He said that it is crucial for EULEX to immediately deny Rexhepi's statement that the EU mission in Kosovo supports such a plan.

Tadic said that this is the only possible stance for EULEX to take, since its status is neutral in the province.

Minister for Kosovo in Serbian government Goran Bogadnovic said that Rexhepi's statement shows who stands behind the recently violent events in the northern part of Serbia's southern province.

"The statement, also, clearly shows who wants to rush and who wants to change the situation on the ground right before the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is given," Bogadnovic said.

Bogadnovic told the Tanjug news agency that everyone who wants a peaceful solution of compromise must be disappointed, but at the same time, "very worried by such statements, which represent a rattling of weapons."

Bogadnovic reminded that it was stated at the recent UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo that those who use unilateral measures will be responsible for the tension, unrest and bad consequences.

"To be clear-they mean Pristina, and those who encourage such acts. At the same time, EULEX, as a status neutral mission, must state clearly if Rexhepi's statements regarding an agreement with EULEX with which such a move would be enabled, were true. If it is true, then the mission has violated its mandate and Serbia will have to react accordingly to this," Bogadnovic said.