DURING MARCH POGROM, ALBANIAN EXTREMISTS ESPECIALLY TARGETED SERBIAN HOLY SITES

BELGRADE, MARCH 17 /SRNA/ - The Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ stated that during the March 2004 pogrom of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, Albanian extremists particularly targeted Serbian Orthodox holy sites, destroying 35 churches and monasteries.

In a statement marking 22 years since the pogrom, the SOC emphasized that in these unprecedented acts of vandalism, some of which were broadcast live on local television, numerous icons and immovable cultural heritage assets were permanently destroyed, including those that had survived the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans and the world wars. The SOC noted that eight Serbs were killed during the wave of violence, while 11 Albanians died in clashes with international forces. It also recalled that 170 Serbs were injured, as well as dozens of members of international forces who clashed with local Albanians while protecting Serbs and their property. "About 800 Serbian homes were destroyed, and 35 religious buildings were burned, including 18 cultural monuments, among them the Church of the Our Lady of Ljeviš in Prizren," the statement said. The SOC added that a liturgy was served in that church six years later, and that traces of destruction and fire had not been removed from the building, which was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2006. "March 17, 2004, was particularly painful for the Serbian people and their Church because all of this occurred not during wartime chaos, but in the presence of several thousand members of international peacekeeping forces - KFOR, the Pristina police, and UNMIK - none of whom publicly took responsibility for the numerous failures," the SPC stated. The SOC also recalled that the events in Kosovo and Metohija in March 2004 were condemned by the UN Security Council and the EU, and that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on April 29, 2004, addressing the events.