Kosovo town under NATO military law

NATO placed the Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law yesterday after riots by a hostile Serb population killed one UN policeman and forced the pullout of UN personnel.

The NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR and the United Nations mission ordered all local Kosovo Serb police officers to park their patrol cars and suspend normal duties.

With UN police already withdrawn, the order left French, Belgian and Spanish troops in sole control of law and order in the northern slice of Kosovo, where Serbs opposed to its Feb 17 secession from Serbia dominate the population.