(4 Nov 2011)
1. Wide of various flags flying
2. Mid of peacekeepers
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Col. Uwe Nowitzki, Spokesman for NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR):
“Since this morning at eight o’clock we started removing the remaining barricade at gate 31, just behind the official crossing point. And actually the overall action went very well and we were able to remove one lane very quickly. But it turned out that on the other side, so on Serbian territory, protesters started building up a new barricade – so that was a little bit surprising. But nevertheless we had no clashes, fortunately. We had some protesters at the very beginning, but overall the situation remain calm and silent until today, this afternoon.”
3. Cutaway of Nowitzki’s name tag
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Col. Uwe Nowitzki, Spokesman for NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR):
“No tear gas was used at all and the soldiers had the orders not to use anything else like tear gas or pepper spray, but in one case it turned out that one of the protesters tried to mount the barricade we were just starting to remove – and it was the only way for one soldier to prevent him climbing over the barricade by using pepper spray, so one soldier used pepper spray, yes.”
5. Close-up of NATO shoulder patch
6. Wide of Nowitzki speaking to journalist
STORYLINE:
NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo started removing a roadblock in Kosovo’s north on Friday – but local Serbs put up a new barrier just metres from the old one.
Lt. Col. Uwe Nowitzki, a spokesman for the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), said the soldiers cleared off soil and rocks from a two-metre high barricade on Friday to open one lane of the road at a border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia.
Nowitzky said Serb protesters responded by building a new roadblock, but on the Serbian side of the crossing.
“The overall action went very well and we were able to remove one lane very quickly,” he said.
“But it turned out that on the other side, so on Serbian territory, protesters started building up a new barricade – so that was a little bit surprising. But nevertheless we had no clashes, fortunately.”
Notiwzky said one soldier used pepper spray to stop a Serb protester from climbing over a barricade being cleared by the troops.
For three months Serbs have been blocking roads with trucks, rocks, mud and logs to prevent the Kosovo Albanian leadership from extending its control over the Serb-dominated area.
Many Serbs who live in Kosovo’s north reject the country’s 2008 secession from Serbia and blame EU and NATO for supporting Kosovo institutions.
Find out more about AP Archive:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Instagram:
You can license this story through AP Archive:
