Serbs wed in burnt-out ruins of Kosovo church 10 Oct 2004 17:05:02 GMT Source: Reuters

By Matthew Robinson

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Dozens of Serbs defied security fears to attend a wedding in Kosovo's predominantly Albanian capital on Sunday, held in the ruins of an Orthodox church gutted by fire during riots in March.

Six U.N. police vehicles escorted the wedding party through the city to the remains of the 19th century St Nicholas Church, its crumbling dome perched precariously on four blackened walls.

Broken tiles and ash from the roof crunched underfoot as the bride and groom were married in a short ceremony under clear skies. The call to prayer rang out from a nearby mosque and three Albanian children peered through a gaping hole where the church doors once stood.

"I have mixed feelings," the bride, Bojana Mitrovic, told reporters. "I'm happy to marry in the church I was christened in, but sad that it should look like this," she said, a Serbian flag hoisted behind her.

Swedish U.N. police officers hovered around the wedding party, which had travelled from the central Serbian town of Nis, some 100 km (60 miles) north of Kosovo.

Amid the smiles of guests, the tight security served as a reminder that Serbs have often been the targets of revenge attacks in Serbia's southern province since the 1998-99 war.

HOPE FOR RETURN

The newlyweds were among an estimated 180,000 Serbs who fled Kosovo in 1999 at the end a 78-day NATO bombing campaign to halt Serb repression of the pro-independence Albanian majority.

Only a handful of Serbs remain in Pristina in a single apartment block, while another 100,000 are spread out around the province in enclaves guarded by NATO peacekeepers.

In March, mobs of Albanians impatient for independence from Serbia rampaged through Kosovo attacking Serb enclaves in the worst violence since the United Nations and NATO took control five years ago.

Nineteen people died and up to 800 homes were damaged or destroyed in the two-day spasm of violence. The St Nicholas church in Pristina was among dozens of centuries-old Serbian religious sites attacked.

"This young couple give me hope that Serbs will one day return to Kosovo, though it doesn't look very likely when you see these ruins," said Oliver Ivanovic, a prominent Kosovo Serb political leader and the groom's best man.

Kosovo holds its second postwar general election on Oct. 23. Serbia's government and church have called on Serbs to boycott the vote, saying the U.N. authorities and NATO have failed to guarantee their security or basic human rights.

But Serbia's pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, has urged Serbs to take part, mindful that the international community sees mid-2005 as the likely date to resolve Kosovo's final status.