Nato moves to stop clashes in Kosovo

NATO-LED forces moved to separate ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo today to prevent a resurgence of attacks that killed 28 and wounded 600 in the worst outbreak of violence in five years.

Thousands of fresh Nato forces, including British troops, have taken up positions throughout the province, days after every major city was hit by rioting, arson and gunfights.

It took days for the extent of the bloodletting to become clear - a symbol of the breakdown of law and order.

Authorities revised their estimates of the dead and injured yesterday after picking through the charred rubble and the ruins of homes throughout the UN-run province.

The commander of Nato forces in southern Europe, Admiral Gregory Johnson, declared that the violence "essentially amounts to ethnic cleansing".

He demanded an end to "mob violence, thuggery and criminal activity".

Despite a drop in rioting, mobs of ethnic Albanians systematically looted villages and apartments abandoned by Serbs.

Some 110 homes and at least 16 Serb Orthodox churches were destroyed by arson. The violence underscored divisions that have polarised Kosovo’s mostly Muslim ethnic Albanians, who want independence from Serbia, and Orthodox Christian Serbs, a minority in Kosovo, who consider the region their homeland.

Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica said a division of the province along ethnic lines was the only long-term solution.

Kosovo’s prime minister, Bajram Rexhepi, rejected the proposal outright.

Mr Rexhepi and other ethnic Albanian leaders urged their people to end the protests, but failed to directly condemn the attacks on the Serbs.