UNESCO to restore 13 Kosovo churches, mosques

TRIBUNE DE GENEVE (SWITZERLAND), 13 décembre 2005 15:19

 

PARIS, Dec 13 (AFP)

 

Restoration work is to begin next year in Kosovo on seven Serbian Orthodox and six Islamic heritage sites, damaged during years of inter-ethnic violence in the province, UNESCO announced on Tuesday.

 

The sites -- five churches, a cathedral and a monastery, three mosques and three hammams -- were chosen earlier this month by a UNESCO expert committee, among a list of 75 buildings.

 

The restoration work, to be carried out in 2006-7, is to be funded with pledges secured at an international donors conference in May.

 

"This meeting certainly represents an essential step in the protection of an invaluable cultural heritage," UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement.

 

He stressed that Kosovo's diverse cultural heritage could also be "a factor of reconciliation" between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

 

The Serbian province has been under UN administration since 1999, after a NATO bombing campaign ended an offensive by Belgrade against ethnic Albanian rebels.

 

Ethnic tensions remain high as ethnic Albanians want to break away from Belgrade which sees the province as a cradle of Serbian culture and history.

 

The United Nations is currently mediating between Belgrade and Pristina ahead of talks on Kosovo's final status.

 

International donors in May pledged a total of 10 million dollarsmillion euros) for the restoration of religious and secular buildings in the province, of which some three million dollars have been confirmed.