KOSOVO: PRISTINA: WARM WELCOME FOR NATO PEACEKEEPERS

(14 Jun 1999) English/Nat

They were greeted by all the enthusiasm of a grateful community.

Amidst a makeshift peace in Kosovo, British paratroopers received a warm welcome by Pristina's ethnic Albanians on Monday.

The soldiers were showered with kisses and flowers.

One soldier was lucky enough to receive a much needed cup of coffee from a local resident.

But there is growing concern that the diversity of the K-FOR forces will rouse partisan feeling amongst the different communities in the Balkan conflict.

Tensions remain.

British paratroopers on Sunday fatally shot a Yugoslav police reservist in Pristina, after the man fired at a NATO patrol.

In Prizren, the province's second-largest city, German troops responded to heavy sniper fire, killing an armed man and wounding another.

Since the deployment of NATO forces, troops have been cautiously trying to avoid sniper fire and hostilities.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
" The locals keep coming up, the amount of flowers we have been getting, we could start our own florist. They keep giving us bread, food, water anything we need. The house that's standing here, the bloke who's looking after it said we can doss, sleep, here anytime we like and do our patrols from here as long as we want. There's running water which is nice and quite hot as well. We've had baths, showers, and nice shaves- the first one in a
fortnight - it feels nice."
SUPERCAPTION: British Paratrooper

SOUNDBITE: (English)
" There is still some VJ's-the Serb Army -- in the local area, and we had a sniper last night, we were not sure if it was directed at us but it was a hell of a bang."
SUPERCAPTION: British Paratrooper

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