Information Service of FIRE SET TO AN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF KOSOVSKA MITROVICA
Gratefully, the fire was extinguished by Greek soldiers in KFOR that have been protecting this church, which was built in 1896 and is located in an area of Kosovska Mitrovica that, following the 1999 arrival of the international armed forces and the withdrawal of the Serbian population across the Ibar River, is inhabited solely by Albanians. After preliminary investigations were conducted by members of the UNMIK Police, Giorgi Kakuk, UNMIK spokesman in Kosovska Mitrovica reported that the fire in the Orthodox Church in the southern area of the city was "accidental, due to electrical problems or lit candles." Kakuk stated that the Greek soldiers maintain an around the clock guard at the church in southern Mitrovica and that it is "nearly impossible that someone could have entered the church undetected," according to news agencies. [OEA Translation: Washington, DC] |
"If it is absolutely certain and clear that terrorists in Kosovo and
Metohija have thus far razed and burned 108 Orthodox churches and monasteries, why then
would there be any difference with this, the 109th case. Those desiring to cover up terror
committed against the Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija have to put forth stronger
evidence to convince us that it was merely carelessness, forgotten lit candles, or
malfunctioned installations. The clergy ascertain that on that day there was no service,
candles were not lit, and also that there was no electricity that evening in the entire
block surrounding the church" – reported His Grace Bishop Artemije of Raska-Prizren
to the Information Service of Serbian Orthodox Church regarding the fire of this past
weekend in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica that destroyed the western side and
narthex, encompassing the area in which candles are sold and the entrance to the Church of
the Translation of the Relics of St. Sava.