Serbian President's Convoy Stoned In Kosovo

Serbian President Boris Tadic (file photo)

Kosovo Albanian prostesters threw stones at an armored convoy carrying Serbian President Boris Tadic as he marked Orthodox Christmas in the former Serbian province.

A crowd of some 200 Kosovo Albanians in the western town of Decani lobbed stones at Tadic's convoy, which was escorted by officers of the European Union's police in Kosovo.

Nicholas Hawton, spokesman for the EU mission, Eulex, said a number of cars were damaged but the Tadic entourage's vehicles were not hit.

The incident comes as tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated since July, when Kosovo's government tried to stamp its authority on a largely lawless area of north Kosovo inhabited by minority Serbs.

Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian population gained independence in 2008 from Serbia, which rejects the secession.

compiled from agency reports