Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
Search
Search:
EU launches Kosovo mission: spokesman
AFP - Wednesday, December 10
PRISTINA, (AFP) - - The European Union's justice mission for Kosovo -- the bloc's biggest ever civilian operation -- officially went to work Tuesday, taking over from a post-war UN mission, a spokesman said.
"They are out taking their posts," Victor Reuter, spokesman for the mission known as EULEX, told AFP in reference to the police, justice and customs personnel of the 27-member European bloc.
Asked if they were deployed in the volatile north where Serbs form a majority and oppose the EU mission, he said: "Exactly. They are going to police stations, court and the border."
The task of EULEX, which initally comprises 1,900 staff, is to supervise ethnic-Albanian majority Kosovo's transition after it declared independence from Serbia.
It supercedes the almost decade-old UN interim mission UNMIK, but was delayed for around six months largely due to opposition from Serbia, which continues its diplomatic battle against Kosovo's independence.
Kosovo, with a 90-percent ethnic Albanian population, seceded from southern Serbia on February 17. It has since been recognised by more than 50 countries, including most EU nations and the United States.
Belgrade agreed to EULEX's deployment in a six-point plan reached with the United Nations, under which it will remain neutral regarding Kosovo's status while Serb-majority areas were to remain under the UN umbrella.
Under the plan, it was to progressively take over from UNMIK in the Serb strongholds like the northern half of Kosovoska Mitrovica, the flashpoint northern town ethnically divided by the Ibar river.
On the eve of its launch, however, EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon, a French general who once headed the NATO peacekeeping Kosovo Force (KFOR), said that the EU would immediately go to work across the whole of Kosovo.
"From the morning of 9 December, we will be present in northern, southern, eastern and western Kosovo," de Kermabon was quoted as saying on the EULEX website.
"In the north for instance, we will have more than 100 people on the ground including police, prosecutors, judges, border police and customs," said the general.
De Kermabon says that unlike the outgoing UN mission, EULEX will only have limited executive powers, which were to be reserved notably to investigate war crimes and organised crime.
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: World
World dignitaries launch anti-nuclear planAP - 28 minutes ago
Accused 9/11 plotters say they want to confessAP - 29 minutes ago
Rights group: New crackdown on dissent in ZimbabweAP - 30 minutes ago
New violence wracks Greece ahead of teen's funeralAP - 30 minutes ago
Mass. town appoints replacement for indicted chiefAP - 31 minutes ago
Enlarge Photo
Foreign reporters stand in front of graffiti, reading EULEX, the acronym for the European mission in Kosovo, in the Kosovar capital of Pristina. The European Union's justice mission for Kosovo -- the bloc's biggest ever civilian operation -- officially went to work Tuesday, taking over from a post-war UN mission, a spokesman said.
Most Popular – World
Viewed
Financial crisis tipped to cut cost of air travel
Muslim pilgrims stone Satan at the hajj
Stocks take flight on prospects for anti-recession moves
Oil price falls below $40
Dow Chemical to cut 5,000 jobs, close 20 facilities
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular