German troops beef up Kosovo NATO control

German troops beef up Kosovo NATO control
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060802-111457-4273r

PRISTINA, Serbia, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- NATO officials say German soldiers have reinforced troops deployed in Serbia's Kosovo province to control tensions between Serb and ethnic Albanians.
The deployment of the newly arrived 650 German soldiers was under way across Kosovo, Belgrade's Tanjug news agency reported Wednesday.
Last week in Pristina, a spokesman for NATO's Kosovo Forces said additional forces from a reserve contingent are being deployed in a bid to safeguard peace and stability in the region.
KFOR troops are led by the allied forces command in Naples, Italy, which is in charge of NATO operations in the Balkans.
The U.N. administration and NATO troops have been in the predominantly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo since 1999, when Serbian security forces fought ethnic-Albanian separatists. Three months of NATO air attacks forced Serbian troops out of Kosovo.
Ongoing talks, led by U.N. envoys between Serbian leaders, who insist Kosovo stay under Belgrade's jurisdiction but with some autonomy, and the ethnic-Albanian leaders, who demand independence, will decide who will govern the province once U.N. and NATO personnel leave.

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