US to evacuate staff from Serbia

[Muttocracy]

Source: BBC News

excerpt:

The US embassy in Serbia has ordered the temporary evacuation of non-essential staff after protesters attacked the building in Belgrade. About 1,000 protesters set fire to the embassy on Thursday in anger at Kosovo's declaration of independence, which the US and others recognised. The UK, German, Croatian, Belgian and Turkish embassies were also attacked.

Both the Serbian president and PM have condemned the violence, which left one dead and more than 100 injured.

US embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris told AFP news agency: "Dependents are being temporarily ordered to depart Belgrade. We do not have confidence that Serbian authorities can provide security for our staff members." Another spokesperson told Reuters news agency the ambassador, Cameron Munter, and core staff would remain.

The evacuation will be reassessed in seven to 10 days. Ms Harris said the embassy would reopen on Tuesday after repairs. The US earlier lodged an official protest over the attack.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7259327.stm

[Megahurtz]

1. Good.

They need to get the fuck out anyway.

[cliss]

2. There was a news clip on Yahoo news last night.

It seems that the protesters (who numbered around 175,000) were given free rein to do the "Crash & Smash" on the U.S. Embassy. The US State Dept. rightly claimed that the authorities "stood aside" and let it happen.

Any opinions here?
I'm not taking any sides since I don't know anything about the situation. But ~ I think the U.S. better skeedaddle. It's tough being so popular around the world.:smoke:

[Muttocracy]

3. I don't know enough about this all, struggling to figure it out

I have two inclinations - that Serbia was supposed to protect our embassy (Biden issued a statement about that, I guess Bush admin (you mentioned state dept) did too) - and that make some sense.

Of course, since when does the current admin. respect international law? And has the Bush admin paid ANY attention to the Balkans in the last 7 years? I'm guessing not enough.

[uppityperson]

4. Body identified, Serb from Kosovo (per BBC)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7260613.stm
Serbian media say the authorities have identified a charred body found in the grounds of the American embassy after the riots as that of a young Serb man originally from Kosovo.

He is said to have fled to Serbia after the Nato-led invasion of the territory in 1999