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Looting Serbian 'Riot Girls' a YouTube Hit

'Belgrade bimbos' draw hits, scorn for grabbing chocolates and shoes

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 24, 2008 8:00 AM CST

(Newser) – After the violence and looting that gripped Belgrade on Thursday night, a video available on YouTube has become a Serbian phenomenon—and provoked near-universal disapproval. The clip features two female looters grabbing everything from chocolates to designer handbags and shoes while the American embassy burned. Entitled "Swapping Kosovo for a pair of sneakers," the video heaps scorn on the "Belgrade bimbos" who "are so greedy they even have to carry things in their teeth."

Comments on the video—mostly unprintable, according to Reuters—have been no kinder to the pair, one of whom covered her face with a pair of stolen shoes when she realized she was on camera. As Belgrade returns to calm, morbid jokes have become the order of the day among the Serbian capital's youth. One common text-message gag: "Swap you 11 left Nikes for 11 left Reeboks."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (2)]

People stand by a car destroyed in Thursday's riots as they check the damage on a building in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. Police on Friday guarded the U.S. and other Western embassies damaged... (Associated Press)

The U.S. embassy in Belgrade burns after masked attackers broke into the building and set an office on fire at the end of a massive protest against Western-backed Kosovo independence, in the Serbian capital,... (Associated Press)

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Two Serbian girls were caught on camera looting, while Belgrade was in chaos from anti-Kosovo demonstrations. In those same demonstrations, many foreign embassies were attacked by protesters. (tepelenacom)

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Looting Serbian 'Riot Girls' a YouTube Hit