MORE THAN 100 ORTHODOX CHURCHES DESTROYED OR DAMAGED IN KOSOVO








BELGRADE, March 6, 2001. /RIA Novosti correspondent Sergei Ryabikin/. Albanian extremists have razed to the ground or nearly ruined more than 100 Orthodox churches and monasteries since the time when KFOR forces were introduced to Kosovo in June 1999. This was disclosed to this RIA Novosti correspondent by an official from the Patriarch's residence of the Serbian Orthodox Church.


	This is the planned destruction of the Serbian culture in this Yugoslav province rather than uncoordinated acts of terrorism. In all, there were more than 1,400 Orthodox churches and monasteries in the province, the official said.


	He captured attention the fact that the peacekeepers had not prevented the demolition of the sacred places of the Orthodox Church. Neither had they detained the criminals who committed them. By the way, the 1244 UNSC resolution demands that KFOR should protect religious objects.


	On March 2, Patriarch of Serbia Pavle and Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica sent a letter to UNESCO Director Koitiro Matsuura asking that this organisation should protect the Serbian Orthodox Church's sacred places in Kosovo. The objects of culture in Kosovo cannot be protected or preserved without international assistance especially as these are the substantive part of European cultural heritage as well as local sacred places, the official added.