Serbs assaulted again in Kosovo

Dejan Maksimovic and Branislav Antovic were injured in two separate attacks in the north of Kosovska Mitrovica last night.

Several bullets hit Antovic while guarding a vehicle fleet owned by the water supply utility company Vodovod Ibar in northern Mitrovica. He has undergone an operation, but is still critical owing to excessive bleeding.

Doctors say the life of the other attacked Serb, Dejan Maksimovic, is no longer in danger. Maksimovic said his attacker opened fire from his own balcony in the Bosnjacka Mahala area. His family was not hurt, and the attacker disappeared into the ethically mixed neighbourhood at the northern bank of the Ibar River, which separates the town into the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south, Beta news agency reports.

In the meanwhile direct talks on the future status of the southern Serbian province between Belgrade and Kosovo Albanians are due to start early next year. Many politicians agree that responsibilities of international institutions involved in the Balkans and special standards set for the province are being failed.

V.Y.