Former Finnish president has supervised peace talks for decades
Associated Press Oct 10, 08 4:44 AM CDT
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This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who mediated peace talks in Indonesia and Kosovo. Ahtisaari has also mediated conflicts in Namibia, Northern Ireland, and Iraq, often working on behalf of the United Nations. In its citation the Norwegian committee praised his "important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts."
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But defense sec says US troops will remain
New York Times Oct 8, 08 8:06 AM CDT
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The US will maintain its current troop levels in Kosovo until at least the end of 2009, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His trip to Kosovo is the first by an American cabinet member since the republic declared independence in February. The move of support is meant to show Russia—which does not recognize Kosovo's independence—that its actions in Georgia have had consequences, writes the New York Times .
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Analysis
Ex-president retains control
Wall Street Journal Aug 12, 08 5:49 PM CDT
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Russia’s military campaign in Georgia is a clear signal that Vladimir Putin is neither gone nor forgotten, reports the Wall Street Journal . Domination of the Caucasus region has long been a central tenet of Putin’s foreign policy, and the PM was especially visible this week, supporting the invasion and berating the US. The invasion—both sides have agreed to a cease-fire for the time being—proves Putin will draw a hard, bloody line against NATO expansion.
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Aid group helps heal the wounds of war in Europe's fledgling country
Radio Free Netherlands Jul 12, 08 8:28 PM CDT
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A Dutch organization is helping steer Kosovo's war widows toward a brighter future, Radio Free Netherlands reports. Many were left to fend for themselves after losing loved ones in the war against Serbia; now the Dutch group The Bridge is giving them cows to put food on the table and earn money by selling milk. Each is obliged to give their cow's first-born calf to another woman.
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Moscow sends troops to breakaway regions; peacekeeping role doubted
BBC Apr 30, 08 2:44 PM CDT
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NATO chided Russia today for sending additional troops into the breakaway Georgian provinces, saying the show of force “undermined Georgia’s territorial integrity,” the BBC reports. The alliance also warned Tbilisi against exacerbating the situation: Georgia has warned against Russian intervention, and, according to Moscow, also increased troop levels in a region of Abkhazia still controlled by the Georgian government.
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Former UN war crimes prosecutor alleges organ-harvesting happened during 1999 war
Guardian (UK) Apr 12, 08 11:45 AM CDT
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Kosovan guerrillas killed Serb prisoners and harvested their organs for profit during Balkan fighting nearly a decade ago, according to the former UN prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia. Carla del Ponte alleges that guerrillas trucked 300 captured Serbs over the border to a makeshift clinic in Albania, removed their kidneys, then killed them later for other organs.
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Ex PM cleared of attacks on ethnic Serbs
New York Times Apr 4, 08 4:30 AM CDT
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The UN's tribunal in the Hague has acquitted a former commander of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army of all charges of war crimes. Ramush Haradinaj, who also briefly served as the breakaway province's prime minister, was cleared of murder, persecution, rape and torture of Kosovo Serb civilians. The verdict threatens to inflame anti-Kosovo sentiment in Serbia, writes the New York Times .
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New nation resents being stuck with Serbian dialing code
Wall Street Journal Mar 27, 08 10:23 AM CDT
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Kosovo has won recognition as an independent state from three dozen countries, but a call to the world's newest nation is a reminder of its history. Telephone numbers in Kosovo still begin with the old Serbian dialing code, and the breakaway republic now wants its own international prefix. It's not an isolated case, writes the Wall Street Journal : from Palestine to Taiwan, a country code can inspire as much patriotic fervor as a flag.
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From laws to peace deals, candidates' roles appear to grow in hindsight
Washington Post Mar 24, 08 1:21 PM CDT
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Barack Obama didn’t take part in meetings on immigration legislation in 2006, recalls Arlen Specter, one of the handful of senators who did, but Specter just shrugs when the Illinois Democrat says he did. “It’s not an unusual matter for senators to take a little extra credit,” Specter says—and both Obama and Hillary Clinton have taken liberal helpings so far, the Washington Post reports.
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More than 100 injured as Serbs battle UN, NATO with guns and grenades
AFP Mar 18, 08 6:51 AM CDT
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A Ukrainian UN police officer has been killed and at least 40 UN or NATO personnel were injured as Serbs continued to exchange gunfire with NATO and UN forces, reports AFP. Some 70 Serbs were also wounded as yesterday's fighting in ethnically charged Mitrovica spilled over to today, including a man who fell into a coma after being shot in the head.
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100 hurt in battle to retake courthouse
BBC Mar 17, 08 9:55 AM CDT
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UN police trying to retake a courthouse were forced to withdraw from the Kosovo city of Mitrovica after clashes with ethnic Serbs, reports the BBC. NATO troops were left in charge of security after the worst violence since Kosovo declared independence; AFP reported at least 100 police and protesters were injured in struggles that included rocks, tear gas, and at least one grenade blast.
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Angry crowd clashes with UN police, occupies buildings in divided town
AFP Mar 15, 08 8:11 AM CDT
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Hundreds of Serbs smashed down gates at two United Nations-run courthouses in northern Kosovo yesterday and stormed the buildings, AFP reports. The mob, opposed to Kosovo's independence, hauled down the UN flag and hoisted the Serbian one. They clashed with UN police, pelting them with rocks and metal objects. NATO's secretary-general condemned the violence as an unacceptable provocation.
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Most important vote in decade called for May
Reuters Mar 13, 08 10:25 AM CDT
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The president of Serbia dissolved parliament today, paving the way for early elections on May 11 that many are calling the country's most critical vote since the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Serbia's government collapsed over the weekend due to infighting over the fate of Kosovo and the country's prospect of membership in the European Union, reports Reuters. Early polls suggest the election will be close.
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