(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-22 09:25

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council condemned on Thursday the attacks against embassies in Belgrade.

The council condemned "in the strongest terms the mob attacks against embassies in Belgrade, which have resulted in damage to embassy premises and have endangered diplomatic personnel," said a statement issued by the 15-member body.

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The council recalled the "fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic missions and the obligations on host governments, including under the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, to take all appropriate steps to protect embassy premises," it said.

In this context, council members "welcome the steps taken by the Serbian authorities to restore order and protect diplomatic property and personnel," it added.

Earlier in the day, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that he was "outraged" by the mob attack against the US embassy in Belgrade and would seek condemnation by the UN Security Council.

The United States has urged the Serbian government to help protect the US Embassy in Belgrade, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday.

"We are in contact with the Serbian government to ensure that they devote the appropriate assets to fulfill their international obligations to help protect diplomatic facilities, in this case our embassy," McCormack said.

"They have been up until this point very good in providing police assets to ensure that the embassy facility was protected. We want to strongly urge them and we are in contact with them to make sure that they devote the assets to deal with this situation, " McCormack said.

The US embassy in Serbia was stormed by protesters on Thursday during a mass rally against the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo.

Serbian President Boris Tadic has appealed to the public to stop violent protests.

Only peaceful and reasonable conduct will enable Serbia to defend its Kosovo by arguments, Tadic said on Tuesday, adding that any violence undermines the arguments and is harmful to Serbia.

Kosovo, the breakaway province of Serbia, has been under UN administration since 1999.

The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17. Belgrade has said the proclamation is null and void.