Bajram Rexhepi, "Deal struck to enable ethnic Albaninas return home"
KFOR troops, Forced to keep ethnic groups separate
An agreement is reported to have been reached in the divided Kosovan town of Mitrovica, which would allow some of its ethnic Albanian inhabitants to return to their homes. The town, which used to be home to a hundred thousand people, has become divided between the Albanian and Serb communities. The man the ethnic Albanian population refers to as the Mayor of Mitrovica said that a deal had been struck to enable ethnic Albanians to begin returning to their homes in the northern, Serb-controlled, sector of the divided Kosovo town. A meeting between United Nations, NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers and Serb authorities this morning broke up, apparently without agreement.
Albanian television had urged students and miners yesterday to march to the contested bridge over the Ibar river to protest against the lack of freedom of movement for ethnic Albanians into the Serb-controlled sector. KFOR allows individuals and family members to cross the bridge on foot in either direction, but large groups are banned from the span. The bridge has recently been a flash-point for violence as ethnic Albanians and Serbs faced off, throwing stones and cursing, separated only by KFOR troops, who were spat upon. Bajram Rexhepi, who is regarded by Albanians as the mayor of Mitrovica, met groups of men gathering at the southern end and urged them to disperse.
Mr. Rexhepi told reporters at the bridge that they accepted the pledge that was made by certain parties. He said that 25 families each day would be going back to the northern part of town, within a week. He said that they agreed that the demonstrations were unnecessary. When another group of protesters gathered at the bridge later in the morning, uniformed KLA soldiers dispersed the crowd.
