Several hundred masked Serb rioters reacted violently to the news of the U.S. recognizing Kosovo's declaration of independence.  The demonstrators, upon breaking into, set fire to the U.S. Embassy located in Serbia's capital Belgrade Thursday, Feb. 21.

Belgrade's US Embassy set on fire
Beverly Condgon | 2/22/08 | World News

Several hundred masked Serb rioters reacted violently to the news of the U.S. recognizing Kosovo's declaration of independence.  The demonstrators, upon breaking into, set fire to the U.S. Embassy located in Serbia's capital Belgrade Thursday, Feb. 21.

Embassy officials said after the attack a charred body was found within the walls of the embassy.

"It was found at the part of the building set on fire by the protesters," embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris said.

She said all embassy staffers were accounted for. It appears that the body is that of a rioter.

U.S. Embassy officials, including 70 diplomats, were not in the embassy at the time of the attack.

"It appeared to have been a protester who was caught in the fire that had been set by the protesters, not as a result of any interaction with U.S. security forces," said William H. Wanlund, an embassy spokesman.

Police and firefighters arrived about 45 minutes after the attacks commenced.  While firefighters worked to estinguish the flames, police officers blocked off all access to the Embassy.

"I'm outraged by the mob attack," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

He said he plans to urge the U.N. Security Council to issue a unanimous statement "expressing the council's outrage, condemning the attack, and also reminding the Serb government of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities."

Serbia's President Boris Tadic told protesters to stop the attacks and move away from the streets. Tadic said that violence was "damaging" Serbia's efforts to defend Kosovo, which declared its independence from Belgrade on Sunday.

Over a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence. The diplomatic facilities of Britain, Germany, Turkey, Croatia and Bosnia also were attacked, but demonstrators did not enter their grounds, officials said.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership's declaration of independence has been renounced by Serbia's government and the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo.
For several days, the Serbs residing in Kosovo staged rallies and bombed U.N. and NATO property.

Kosovo declared their independence Sunday Feb. 17.   Kosovo is 90 percent Albanian, but Serbs regard the territory as the cradle of their civilization.  Kosovo's Serbs make up less than 10 percent of Kosovo's population.

The U.S. has openly acknowledged and sponsored Kosovo’s desire to become an independent nation since 1999, when NATO launched a campaign to halt a Serbian effort to find ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since and policed the province.

Thursday’s assault on the embassy followed a rally in Belgrade.  The rally held by authorities attracted 200,000 people.  Free train rides to the capital were provided to demonstrators while schools were closed to also encourage a large demonstration. 

“As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia,” Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told a crowd of demonstrators located in front of the old Yugoslav parliament building.  “Serbia has annulled and will annul every act of illegal and fictitious state created on its territory by the use of force.”