(22 Feb 2008)
1. Wide of bus with demonstrators arriving from Serbia passing Serbia-Kosovo border post
2. Mid of demonstrators inside bus, displaying the Serbian three-finger salute
3. Zoom out of buses and cars at border
4. Wide top shot of rally showing bridge dividing North and South Mitrovica; UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) police sealing bridge
5. Riot police
6. Protesters waving Serbian flags and chanting slogans
7. Riot police with batons and shields
8. Wide of demonstrators
9. Wide of riot police
10. KFOR (NATO led Kosovo Force) helicopter flying overhead
11. Various of demonstrators, flags
12. Wide of bridge dividing North and South Mitrovica, police
13. Top shot of demonstration
14. Top shot of riot police
15. Riot police moving into position
16. Top shot of demonstration
17. Riot police lining up
18. Top shot of demonstration
19. Various of riot police
20. Demonstrators throwing firecrackers at police
21. Riot police with batons and shields, UPSOUND firecrackers
22. Wide of demonstrators, smoke in the crowds, UPSOUND firecrackers and demonstrators chanting
23. Mid of riot police
24. Wide demonstrators, UPSOUND firecrackers
25. Wide of riot police, firecracker being fired by demonstrators in foreground, smoke
26. Wide demonstrators briefly dispersing, UPSOUND firecrackers
27. Wide of demonstrators
28. Mid of riot police
29. Wide of demonstrators, flags
30. Riot police
31. Various top shots of demonstrators
STORYLINE:
Serbs protesting against Kosovo's independence attacked UN police guarding a key bridge in northern Kosovo with stones and empty glass
bottles Friday.
Some 5,000 Serbs rallied in this tense town, waving Serbian flags and chanting "Kosovo is ours!" in a fifth day of protests since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence last weekend.
In a brief skirmish with UN police, protesters lobbed firecrackers. No one appeared to be injured, and no tear gas was fired as earlier reported.
The Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar River - dividing Kosovo Serbs from ethnic Albanians - has long been a flashpoint of tensions in Kosovo's restive north.
About 100 riot police with batons and shields further blocked any attempts by demonstrators to cross Kosovska Mitrovica bridge over the Ibar River.
Mitrovica is an ethnically divided town, with predominantly ethnic Albanians living in the south and Serb districts in the north.
Riot police in formation blocked a road leading to the bridge, preventing thousands of ethnic Serbs from moving ahead.
NATO-led also troops intensified their presence in the city, after several days of violence by Serbian extremists angry at Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Restrictions preventing inhabitants of Serbia from entering Kosovo were put in place earlier on Friday.
Tensions were higher than usual after French NATO peacekeepers on Kosovo's border refused to allow in several busloads of Serbs who wanted to join the Kosovo Serb rally.
Some apparently managed to evade the blockade, leading the clashes at the bridge.
Kosovo Serbs have been displaying their anger over Kosovo's statehood by destroying U.N. and NATO property, setting off hand grenades and staging noisy rallies.
The US Ambassador in Serbia has asked the State Department to evacuate all non-essential personnel from the embassy in Belgrade following the attack on the compound.
More than a dozen nations have recognised Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
