BELGRADE (Reuters) - The United States was to blame for
this week’s attacks on foreign embassies in Belgrade, Serbia’s
minister for Kosovo said on Saturday, citing Washington’s
support for Kosovo’s secession from Serbia.Mobs stormed the U.S. embassy on Thursday and set it on
fire and other diplomatic missions were stoned after a mostly
peaceful mass protests against the former Serbian province’s
declaration of independence.The attacks, which Serb officials blamed on “isolated
vandals,” were beamed across the world and condemned by the
United Nations.”The U.S. is the major culprit for all troubles since Feb
17,” Slobodan Samardzic told the state news agency Tanjug,
referring to the date when Serbia’s Albanian-majority southern
province declared independence.”The root of violence is the violation of international
law. The Serbian government will continue to call on the U.S.
to take responsibility for violating international law and
taking away a piece of territory from Serbia,” he said.The State Department has said family members and non-core
personnel from the Belgrade mission will be relocated until
security improves.The ambassador and essential staff will stay, and the
mission will re-open early next week, after repairs to the
facade and parts of the embassy damaged by the fire.A charred body that was found inside the building after
police moved in to disperse the rioters has not been officially
identified.The Serbian daily Blic on Saturday reported the victim was
a 21-year old student, originally from Kosovo, who moved to
Serbia in 1999, when NATO expelled Serb forces from the
province to stop the mass killing of civilians in a
counter-insurgency war.The province, seen as Serbia’s religious heartland, has
been under U.N. supervision since then. The swift recognition
of its declaration of independence by the U.S. and major
European countries has triggered a call to boycott products and
businesses of the countries that recognize the territory.One of the several round-robin emails urged Serbs to close
their accounts and stop transacting via foreign banks because
“any dinar going through those channels may be used to finance
donor conferences” for the province.(Editing by Ellie Tzortzi and Jon Boyle)
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