Kosovo police arrest 36 in tent protest

PRISTINA, Serbia, June 9 (Reuters) Police in Kosovo today arrested 36 ethnic Albanian demonstrators who had erected tents blocking the entrance to the United Nations mission in the province.

The protest, which began yesterday afternoon, was the latest by a group of activists demanding the U.N. mission end seven years of governing Serbia's southern province and give the Albanian majority independence.

Kosovo Albanian police moved in at 3.30 a.m. 1700 yrs i-Ist to clear the road, said police spokesman Veton Elshani.

Protest leader Albin Kurti, a high-profile activist and former political prisoner, said: ''The police used violence. They stole our tents.'' Riot police were lined up outside the entrance to the U.N.

mission on Friday morning as around 50 protesters again tried to block the main road.

Kurti's protests, and the often heavy-handed reaction of police, have won him support among the 90-percent Albanian majority which is impatient for independence. U.N. officials view his growing popularity with concern.

Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians opened direct talks in February in Vienna, with the mediation of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, the U.N.'s special envoy.

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku condemned the protest.

''Let's work together and stop the kind of scenes that can only harm efforts to resolve Kosovo's status,'' he said.

Western powers want a deal within the year, which diplomats say will likely override Serbian opposition and give Kosovo independence.

Legally part of Serbia, the province of 2 million people has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive out Serb forces and halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

NATO has 17,000 soldiers based in the province, alongside 2,000 U.N. police officers.

REUTERS CH BST1336