An elderly Serbian family was attacked in the administrative zone between Serbia and Kosovo on Tuesday, allegedly by a group of Albanians coming from Kosovo. The attackers beat a 74-year-old man and his sister and then stole their livestock in the village of Velika Braina. Police have not yet issued any statements.
More news has emerged that the UN Security Council will most likely be sending a mission to Kosovo and Serbia sometime this month to do a fact-finding investigation of the situation on the group and possibly look into the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1244. The mission would likely not be lead by a member of the EU but rather one of the 10 non-permanent nations currently serving in the council. The mission would go to Belgrade and Pristina to determine if Ahtisaari's proposal is the "best way to move forward" and report back to the council. After the mission was completed, a resolution could be expected but this will probably push any possibility for resolution to early May at best.
There was another explosion in Gjakove/Dakovica last night when an unknown person threw two hand grenades into neighboring Albanian yards. One device exploded and the other one was found and destroyed by KFOR EOD. Also, around 600 people attended a rally supporting ex-PM Ramush Haradinaj in Prizren. Haradinaj is currently answering war crime charges in the Hague. He still remains a popular and influential political figure in Kosovo.
Well, friends, it's pretty much official now. I will be staying in Kosovo until the end of the year and then probably moving on to another mission. There are a couple different options I am exploring (East Timor, Ivory Coast, and Sudan) but since I have a commitment to stay here until December it will be several more months before I have anything definitive in place for after the New Year. I would like to go home for Christmas and New Year so I'm going to try to wrangle a little bit of time off in between the mission transfer. But until I go, this blog will continue with stories of life in Kosovo and the politics of the ongoing debate about final status :o)
