International

Serb Protesters Storm Vacant U.S. Embassy

Published February 21, 2008 at 11:42 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Serbian nationalists opposed to Kosovo's independence storm the United States embassy in Belgrade, after a massive rally in the Serbian capital. Several hundred young men dressed in hooded sports tops and scarfs had broken into the premises on the main boulevard of Kneza Milosa. The embassy was not staffed at the time of the attack.

Angry demonstrators broke into an empty U.S. embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, setting fire to its facade and tossing documents out of windows to protest Washington's apparent support for Kosovo's independence.

Serbian police stood by as black smoke billowed from the embassy compound, which had been boarded up after rioters threw stones at the structure earlier in the week. Papers and chairs were thrown out of the windows, with doors wedged into burning window frames.

Protesters were later seen removing the embassy's American flag.

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The attack follows a day in which an estimated 150,000 demonstrators protested against Kosovo's weekend declaration of independence from Serbia. Protesters waved Serbian flags and carried signs reading "Stop USA terror".

The subject of Kosovo's independence is extremely sensitive for Serbs, who consider the breakaway region the cradle of their medieval nationhood.