YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO: MITROVICA DIVIDED

(20 Jun 1999) Albanian/Nat French troops intervened on Sunday to reunite an Albanian mother with her baby after Serb civilians tried to prevent her entering the apartment block where the baby had been left with other family members. Another Albanian mother was less fortunate. She was unable to cross the Serb civilian line to collect her infant. In the Kosovan town of Mitrovica a bridge divides the Serb and Albanian quarters. And this division is causing problems for the townsfolk as Albanians begin to return to the town after the 78 day NATO bombing campaign. On Sunday a mother and her child were split up as Serbs refused to allow the mother to return to the Serb quarter to pick up her child. She had left the baby with an elderly relative to run an errand. The woman said that on Sunday morning she left her two small children with an elderly relative so that she could visit her mother to give her some food. When she tried to return, Serbs stopped her. One woman suspected that the mother was armed. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "I would help her but I'm not going to because she has something hidden under her jacket. I am afraid that it is a knife or a gun." SUPER CAPTION: Vox Pop And the division seemed to be in force on both side of the bridge. An elderly Serb woman who was trying to cross from the Serb quarter to the Albanian side was only able to do so when her neighbours intervened One Serb woman complained that more Albanians were now returning to the town than had fled in the first place. She warned that the situation could lead to conflict within the town. SOUNDBITE: (English) "All of them want to come her, they never leaved. A few of them yes but not all of them. And if they come here there will be big trouble." SUPER CAPTION: Serb Woman Many Serbs in the region fear that they will not be protected by NATO from reprisals once the ethnic Albanians who left the town return from exile or hiding. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...