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PRISTINA-U.N. police backed by NATO peacekeepers were reopening two Kosovan border crossings on Wednesday, a day after Serbs burnt them down in the first challenge to the authority of the newly independent republic. "They are reopened," said U.N. spokesman Alexander Ivanko.He said special U.N. police and NATO troops were now in charge, and U.N. border police would be back later in the day-but not yet the Kosovan police who jointly man the crossings.A Reuters witness at one post said U.S. troops were moving in floodlights and generators but the crossing was not yet open.The test of Western resolve to back up Kosovo's independence with military force had come two days after Pristina declared secession from Serbia, a step the West's major powers have backed but which Belgrade and its ally Moscow reject.NATO said the attacks were clearly an organized challenge, but one that would not succeed."I just want everybody to be fully aware of my determination to maintain, restore a safe and secure environment wherever in Kosovo," said General Xavier de Marnhac, commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR.Destroying the border posts was "perhaps not pretty, but legitimate", said Serbia's Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic. But Kosovo's U.N. administrator Joachim Ruecker countered that the action was no legitimate at all.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
