(29 Nov 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of a US troops check point at the entrance of the military camp
2. Mid of soldiers
3. Wide of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) military camp entrance
4. Various of NATO soldiers
5. Wide of a NATO helicopter over flying the camp
6. Various of helicopter landing
7. Various of US soldiers taking part at the flag hoisting ceremony
8. Various of US flag being raised
9. Wide of Lieutenant General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, KFOR (NATO-led Kosovo Force) Commander during presser
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, KFOR Commander:
"Be confident that KFOR is everywhere and ready to face any kind of threat at any time coming from anywhere in or out of Kosovo."
11. Mid of press
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, KFOR Commander:
"I don't think that the 10th of December will have any particular meaning in terms of security for Kosovo. KFOR will be ready anyway, after the 10th, before the 10th, the 10th itself, and for me it doesn't make any difference."
13. Various of the KFOR camp
STORYLINE
US peacekeepers deployed to Kosovo's tense north on Wednesday - a day after talks between Serbia and the southern province's ethnic Albanians failed to resolve their dispute over the territory - stoking fears of renewed violence.
Some 90 soldiers, all members of the National Guard from Iowa joined French peacekeepers at NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) Camp Nothing Hill in a part of Kosovo that is dominated by members of the province's Serb minority.
Most of Kosovo's people are ethnic Albanians.
The move comes several weeks after Germany sent 500 additional troops to the province's north part, boosting the force's presence ahead of December 10 - the deadline for international mediators involved in the failed negotiations to report back to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
NATO officials in Kosovo however said the deployment was a regular rotation of the troops and was not linked to Kosovo's status talks.
Chief US envoy to the talks, Frank Wisner has warned the region is up for "a very difficult time" as the failure to reach an agreement has increased the likelihood that the breakaway province will declare statehood sometime in the coming months.
But NATO's commander in Kosovo brushed aside security threats saying the 16-thousand strong NATO-led Kosovo force known as KFOR was ready to counter any threat.
"KFOR is everywhere and is ready to face any kind of threat at any time, coming from anywhere," French Lieutenant General Xavier Bout de Marnhac told reporters after a brief ceremony at the military base ON Thursday.
The US peacekeepers will be stationed in northern Kosovo for two months to conduct foot patrols in Serb-populated villages.
Troops may see Kosovo's ethnic Albanians through a rough period in which they could declare unilateral independence as soon as January - a move many fear will trigger minority Serbs to disavow such a declaration and attach themselves to Serbia.
Kosovo's leaders and Serbia's officials have failed to agree on whether the province should become independent, as majority ethnic Albanians insist, or if Serbia should retain some control over it.
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