Thursday, June 28, 2007

Cool heads prevailed

Today's celebration of St. Vitius day, the 618th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, was apparently violence free.  We praise God for that.   Yesterday I wrote that the Tsar Lazar Guards, a volunteer Serbian paramilitary unit had announced its forthcoming visit to commerate the battle.

Yesterday UNMIK spokesmen had announced:

The SRSG intends to issue an Executive Decision in the course of today prohibiting the
Guard or any similar paramilitary group from carrying out any activities in Kosovo, such
as the wearing of uniforms, or inciting ethnic hatred or violence.
Any presence by the Guard in Kosovo will be considered a breach of UNSCR 1244 and a
threat to civil law and order. Police have full powers to take whatever steps required to
maintain law and order, and the SRSG will provide clear guidance to the Police
Commissioner on this issue.

According to Reuters hundreds of people traveled from the site of the battle to the church and monastery in Gracanica to remember the battle.  They arrived by bus, having been escorted by local police.

They later reported that they day ended without clashes and the,  "in a show of strength and a nod to the territory's de facto independence, the bulk of the extensive security operation was handed to Kosovo Albanian police."

Thanks for your prayers!

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