Albanians mark bombing as crackdown continues

ETHNIC Albanians marked the fifth anniversary of NATO bombing yesterday as the alliance tracked down suspects behind recent violence that has deepened ethnic hatred in Kosovo.

The top UN official in the province, Harri Holkeri, used the anniversary to appeal for a new beginning following the worst violence since the end of war in 1999.

He called on people to isolate those who "tried to destroy the whole future of Kosovo", adding: "They are responsible for severe crimes against humanity."

Kosovo’s president, Ibrahim Rugova, called for people to remember "one of the most important dates of Kosovo’s history".

NATO said the last of more than 2,600 troops being sent to Kosovo to beef up the international peacekeeping force after last week’s deadly riots would arrive today.

Meanwhile, Russia yesterday blamed the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo for failing to prevent "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo Serbs, and sent two planes with humanitarian aid for Serb refugees.

Elsewhere in the province yesterday, UN police and assailants exchanged gunfire in a northern Kosovo village, killing two officers and one gunman in an attack that police said came amid efforts to escalate lawlessness in the province.

The ambush near the village of Sakovica, 15 miles north-east of the capital, Pristina, killed one local police officer and one from Ghana. It was the second killing of an international officer in the five-year history of the mission.