Iraq Said Spark for UN Kosovo Police Fight, 3 Die

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Iraq Said Spark for UN Kosovo Police Fight, 3 Die
Sat Apr 17, 3:45 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Shaban Buza


KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Two Americans and a Jordanian were shot dead in Kosovo Saturday when emotions over Iraq (news - web sites) apparently boiled over into a gunbattle between members of the U.N. law enforcement mission.

U.N. police spokesman Neeraj Singh said two U.S. police officers and a Jordanian were killed and 10 Americans and one Austrian wounded in the shooting.

The lethal firefight between fellow members of the U.N. force was unprecedented in five years of peacekeeping in Kosovo, where police of some 30 nations make up the international force of around 3,500.

The 10-minute shootout took place in the U.N. compound in ethnically divided Mitrovica -- a city that is more commonly the scene of clashes between Serbs and Albanians, in which U.N. police and NATO (news - web sites) troops intervene to keep the peace.

Initial reports that the shooting centered on a detention center in the compound were inaccurate. But the U.N. said the dead and wounded included both police and prison staff.

The deputy head of the Serb hospital in Mitrovica, Milan Ivanovic, said one of the dead was an American woman, who was hit along with four female U.S. police colleagues.

U.N. police sources said four Jordanian police officers had been arrested in connection with the shooting, but could give no further details on the cause.

A police source said it began with a row over Iraq. Singh said the U.N. was still investigating the possible motive.

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