Mitrovica, 22 February 2000 (RFE/RL) - Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeeping force announced today that it has suspended a weapons search in the divided city of Mitrovica. This weekend, American and other KFOR troops launched a weapons search throughout Mitrovica in an attempt to quell an outbreak of violence between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs.
But French General Pierre de Saqui de Sannes said today the search was being suspended to prevent a further rise in tensions. Some 2,300 peacekeepers are patrolling the streets of Mitrovica. The city's curfew has been relaxed from 1800 to 2000 local time.