Protesters Set Fire to U.S. Embassy in Belgrade

A demonstration of about 150,000 people near the American Embassy in Belgrade turned riotous Thursday when protesters opposed to Kosovo’s bid for independence from Serbia stormed the embassy and set fire to its façade.

Al Jazeera English:

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said he was “outraged by the mob attack,” and that he would ask the UN Security Council to condemn it unanimously.

The violence spilled over to other embassies, including that of Croatia, and provoked widespread vandalising of shops and banks.

The rally had been backed by the Serbian government who refuse to accept the independence of the former province many Serbs see as their spiritual heartland.

More than 80 people were admitted to hospital after the violence, about half of them police and two journalists from France and the Netherlands, local media reported.

The embassy was unstaffed at the time of the attack. Cameron Munter, the ambassador, was at his private residence.

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AP photo / str

Flaming passion: Serbian protesters signal their disapproval Thursday of the U.S. position on Kosovo’s independence declaration.