PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The U.N. Kosovo police chief calls for an independent investigation into deadly violence at protests against the U.N. plan on the Serbian province's future status.
"I have invited the police inspectorate of Kosovo to maintain an independent overview of the investigation into the deaths to ensure transparency," said U.N. Police Commissioner Stephen Curtis Sunday in Pristina.
Two protesters died Saturday after violent clashes between Albanian-ethnic activists and the police in the province's capital, the U.N. Mission in Kosovo said. Members of pro-independence group Vetevendosja tore down barricades to enter government buildings and threw stones at the police. Local and U.N. policemen responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission said autopsies are being performed on the bodies of the two protesters.
"It is totally regrettable that two lives were lost as a result of wanton breach of security at the government buildings. The demonstrators at the government buildings compelled the police to take defensive measures to restore order," Curtis said.
Many ethnic Albanians regret the U.N. draft plan, which they say falls short of granting independence for Kosovo, a province of Serbia where 90 percent of the population is Albanian.
The plan presented Friday by U.N.'s envoy for the status of Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, recognized the province's right to govern itself and conclude international agreements. But the proposal did not mention independence.
A new round of U.N.-led Serb-ethnic Albanian talks on the province's status is scheduled for Feb. 21 in Vienna.
Kosovo has been U.N.-administered since 1999 after NATO air bombardments forced Serbian security forces out. Atrocities were committed by the Serbian army and hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians fled.
