Police clash with protesters in Montenegro By PREDRAG MILIC – 2 hours ago
PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Police fired tear gas at thousands of angry pro-Serb Montenegrins who pelted state buildings and fired flares Monday to protest their government's recognition of Kosovo's independence. Chanting "Treason! Treason!" and "Kosovo is Serbia!" the protesters condemned last week's decision to recognize the former Serbian province which declared independence in February. At least 13 protesters and one policeman were injured during the clashes in Podgorica, Montenegro's capital, hospital officials said. Earlier, some 10,000 protesters gave the country's pro-Western government until Wednesday to withdraw recognition of Kosovo, or face attempts to topple it "by unparliamentary means." "This is the biggest shame in the Montenegrin history," Andrija Mandic, a leader of the pro-Serbian opposition in the parliament, told a rally in Podgorica. He and others demanded a referendum on Kosovo's recognition. About 35 percent of Montenegro's population of 650,000 identify themselves as Serbs. After Montenegro and Macedonia recognized Kosovo on Thursday, Belgrade expelled the two neighboring countries' ambassadors and threatened additional retaliatory measures. Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia were all part of the former Yugoslavia. Montenegro, considered Serbia's closest ally, did not split from Serbia until 2006. On Monday, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro accused Serbia of wanting to continue to influence his small country's policies. Belgrade "is forgetting that we are now a sovereign country which is making the decisions in its own interest," Djukanovic said. He denied Montenegro has been pressured by the United States and others to recognize Kosovo. Serbia has not had effective control over Kosovo since 1999, when NATO led airstrikes that halted former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. For years, it was administered by both NATO and the U.N. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iue5ekw-rAKovudtmy-SteWxdTQwD93PQ2301
