(16 Feb 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Pan from American NATO troops to orthodox church
2. American NATO troops next to church
3. American-NATO soldier walking, then drawing a map of the area for security purposes
4. Tilt up from soldier's hands while drawing to his face
5. Soldiers walking in the area
6. Church bell tower
7. Various of soldiers drawing map
8. Various of soldiers patrolling by foot in the town
9. Armed NATO troops walking alongside local children
10. Various of American-NATO soldiers patrolling the streets, EU, American and Albanian flags in the background
11. Soldier next to banner reading; "US Marines US Army Thank you America"
STORYLINE
NATO troops surrounded churches and Serb houses in Dobercane, eastern Kosovo, on Saturday, just hours before Kosovo parliament was expected to declare independence.
European Union nations meanwhile agreed to send a 1,800-strong mission to Kosovo to help the fledgling state build its police force and judiciary.
The mission will include 700 police officers, as well as judges, prosecutors and other legal experts, to help the ethnic Albanian leadership with security, legal and customs issues after Kosovo breaks away from Serbia.
Some 100-thousand Serbs live in Kosovo, some of them scattered in central and eastern Kosovo while the rest are grouped in the troubled north bordering the rest of Serbia.
NATO's Kosovo force, known as KFOR, recently boosted patrols and deployed extra troops - mostly Germans and Americans - in the province's tense north, where most of the Serbs live.
Serbs vow to reject any declaration of independence and say they'll do whatever it takes to stay linked to the rest of Serbia.
Many are as distrustful of NATO as they are of the Albanians, blaming the alliance for failing to protect them during anti-Serb rioting in March 2004 that left 11 dead and scores of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries burned.
Since then, KFOR has worked on making the force more flexible and on overcoming restrictions imposed by contributing countries which limited its ability to react quickly and forcefully to the 2004 unrest.
A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the issue publicly, said that after independence is declared the peacekeepers will focus on securing Kosovo's borders to prevent any extremist activity.
NATO also will cooperate closely with local authorities to secure the property of any Serbs who might leave, the official said.
Kosovo's international administrators also may tap the local emergency force - the Kosovo Protection Corps, made up mostly of former ethnic Albanian guerrillas who fought Serbia - to protect Serb property, the official said.
The NATO troops were patrolling on Saturday in the streets of the eastern Kosovo town of Dobercane - a town with mixed population of Albanian and Serbs that had been a flash-point of ethnic tensions before.
The soldiers carried out foot patrols, and inspected the area of the church in the town, while drawing maps of the surface for security purposes.
They were welcomed in the town by Albanians as US flags were waving next to Albanian and EU flags and a huge banner reading; "US Marines US Army Thank you America".
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