UNMIK Police, in its weekly update, reports an increase in several types of crimes, except for murders (the murder rate remained at 4 a week). Kidnapping increased from 1 to 5, assault from 43 to 55, intimidation from 26 to 55, robbery from 10 to 14, illegal possession of weapons from 22 to 31, criminal damage from 22 to 33 incidents, arson from 9 to 15, burglary from 81 to 92, and auto theft from 75 to 78 reports. There were decreases in evictions which fell from 50 to 39, and in common theft (from 89 to 76). The number of arrests decreased from 99 to 84.

UNMIK Police have arrested a man suspected of, possibly, kidnapping and raping two Roma girls from the village of Ternjie in Suvareka. On each incident the suspect was armed with an AK-47 and invaded the victims’ homes, forced the girls into a vehicle, drove them away and raped them.

The past 24 hours were relatively calm in Kosovo, but there was a significant public disturbance in Gracanica on Saturday. Apparently in reaction to a grenade attack earlier that day, a crowd of 100 to 150 Serbs gathered at about noon. When four Albanians tried to drive through the crowd, they were assaulted before they reached the UNMIK police station where they went to seek safety. Two vehicles were extensively damaged. A Serb male was injured when hit by one of the drivers. Also, people in the car were taken out and beaten. One Albanian is being treated for a fractured skull at the British hospital in Kosovo Polje.

Internationals in the audience may be interested in the robbery at Perla restaurant just before midnight last night when two Albanian males entered and pointed an AK-47 at the owner and robbed him of 2,500 deutsche mark.

Now good news from the Police. UNMIK Police Commissioner Sven Frederiksen has been named by his queen, Queen of Denmark, as the Danish equivalent of a Knight.

Cars

From now on car registration will no longer be accepted without proof of insurance. There are now two insurance companies licensed to sell insurance in Kosovo: an American company called AIG, or Adriatic Insurance Group, and a company from Albania, INSIG.

The European Commissioner for External Affairs, Christopher Patten, will be in Kosovo and will give a press conference on Wednesday, at the European Agency for the Reconstruction of Kosovo Museum, where he will be discussing recent agreements with Macedonia. Tomorrow, he will witness the signature of a joint statement on cross-border cooperation agreement between UNMIK and Macedonia. This will be at the Alexander Palace in Skopje. We’ll have more information on that at the Wednesday briefing.

I do have to confirm that the 15-year-old boy did escape from KFOR military police custody earlier yesterday morning. He asked to go to the wash room and was able to slip out of a very small window, and his guardian was not able to get out of the window. So, we have lost him. But KFOR and UNMIK Police are working very hard to recapture the boy.

With regard to troubles in Gracanica, Koha Ditore yesterday stated that an Albanian male had been abducted. In fact, he was rescued by the Swedish battalion and is now undergoing treatment for fractured skull in the British military hospital near Kosovo Polje. So, you should deduct one alleged abduction there.

Q: Has this 15-year-old suspect escaped from the same prison that four people escaped from a couple of weeks ago, all of them wanted murderers? If so, is this actually a prison? Are there plans to improve security there?

PA: It was not the same prison. It was in fact a military barrack of the MNB North. One of the problems we face is the lack of proper detention centres for severe crimes. This boy, because he was a young offender, was not held as securely as an older, mature person would be. In the future, the construction of proper detention centres will certainly be an issue for KFOR.

Q: How can a 15-year-old boy could be arrested for a murder of a soldier? What are the details about that killing?

PA: The investigation is underway. We understand the boy’s father had taken him to KFOR because he knew that his boy was implicated in the murder. And beyond that there’s no more that I can say. But hopefully, as the investigation progresses and when he will be recaptured, we will give you more details on that.

Q: There is an article published in the KFOR Chronicle on Mitrovica, which mentions a Serb group from the bridge, which is able to mobilize hundreds of people within minutes in the event there are attempts from Kosovo Albanians to move into the north of the town. What do you know about this group? Could you also give us figures on the population of northern Mitrovica? When we will have a chance to hear the people from Trepca and Zvecan?

PA: The group is the men whom we all know about, those who gather and throw stones at people when there is a possibility of an incident. In the days and weeks to come, there will be more information for you, on how we will contain these people. On the population, I don’t have those figures, it’s not the KFOR responsibility to get the demographic data. I may link you up with the KFOR Chronicle editorial staff outside, after the meeting. As for the people from the Trepca mines, we are going to have representatives from UNMIK and KFOR to talk about the situation there, hopefully on Wednesday or Friday this week. Just be a little more patient.

Q: Can KFOR assure us that their troops on the boundary with Serbia are doing their utmost to prevent any armed and uniformed men from crossing there, into southern Serbia?

PA: Yes, I can confirm that we are tightening up appropriately on the boundary. Vehicle check-ups will be even tighter, and I think you will see in the weeks ahead that there will be new measures to make sure that the boundary is as tight as we want it to be. The problem is that people are allowed to go back and forth across the boundary, we are here to prevent the wrong type of people, who can cause unrest, moving back and forth.

Q: Regarding the Dobrosin incident, can you tell us more about those 12 armed and uniformed individuals who were reportedly observed in the area? What arms they had? Has KFOR contacted Serbian authorities on this?

PA: We do have regular contacts through JIG, the Joint Implementation Group. I can’t tell you exactly what is going on during these meetings, but matters of mutual interest are being discussed. As for the people that were observed, I will have to contact UNMIK Police on that, because I don’t have that information.

Q: How many Albanians have returned home in Mitrovica? Do you plan to begin the return of Serbs to the south?

SM: Yes, starting from tomorrow, Serb will begin registering to return to their flats on the southern side. I am not sure when that will actually begin. There is a problem with several flats being occupied by Albanians who fled. There are 38 Albanians who returned on Friday. If anyone else has returned voluntarily, I haven’t heard of that. UNHCR says there are about 800 Albanians living in the urban centre of the northern side of Mitrovica.

Q: Will any fighting happen in the 5-kilometre zone at the border with Serbia?

PA: It’s so speculative that I am not going to do so. We are going to do our utmost to make sure that Kosovo remains a secure and safe area. We will not allow extremists to go back and forth and cause trouble.

Q: How far are going to go? Are you prepared to use force?

PA: I am not saying anything like that. In every case that you could have seen, KFOR reaction is extremely measured. We have not used weapons on the population. You can see that KFOR soldiers have reacted with great poise and appropriately in their activities.