Albanians halt controversial construction works

Albanians halt controversial construction works

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Construction works launched by ethnic Albanians in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica have been halted, said reports from the town in northern Kosovo.

This happened after a meeting held on Friday by Goran Rakic and Agim Bahtiri, the mayors of the southern, ethnic Albanian, and northern, predominantly Serb, parts of the divided town.

The activity this morning in the Brdjani neighborhood caused disturbance among the Serbs, who started to gather near the site. Rakic said there was agreement to put the construction works on hold and discuss the problem "on a higher level" next week.

This is a long standing problem in the area, with Serbs claiming that Albanians who never previously lived in the neighborhood wished to build their homes there in order to change its ethnic structure.

Rakic told Tanjug this morning that "preserving peace and stability was the most important thing at this time," and described the events in Brdjani as "an attempt at destabilization."

Rakic explained that the Albanians who started building in Brdjani today did not obtain appropriate permits from the municipality and were in violation of regulations.

"Some embassies in Pristina" have also been informed of the problem, Tanjug added in its report, and said that members of an intervention unit of the Kosovo police along with EULEX police were at the scene earlier on Friday, but had since withdrawn.