Kosovo Albanians launches Serbia border crossings take over

NATO peacekeepers have been deployed to the area to deal with any violent threats and their top commander Maj. Gen. Erhard Buehler has engaged in talks with Serb demonstrators to defuse the situation, a NATO official told AP.

Meanwhile, Oliver Ivanovic, Serbia's state secretary in charge of Kosovo, warned that the situation "is extremely tense and this is a hastily made, unexplainable gesture," Beta news agency reported.

But, members of the Rosa (Dew) special forces unit started withdrawing from Leposavic early on Tuesday, as a result of an agreement reached by representatives of Belgrade, Pristina and KFOR, Tanjug's reporter on the scene said.

Serbia's Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic denied the statement from Pristina that Kosovo Police Service (KPS) special forces have taken control of the Jarinje administrative border crossing.

The special forces spent the night between Monday and Tuesday on the road from Leposavic to Kosovska Mitrovica, after Serb roadblocks kept them from reaching Jarinje.

They started withdrawing toward Pristina Tuesday morning. Minister Bogdanovic said he was expecting a response from Pristina to Belgrade's offer - withdraw KPS special forces from all positions they deployed to Monday night, while Serbia will unblock roads in the northern part of the province.

Bogdanovic added he and the head of Belgrade's team in the dialogue with Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic, would meet again around 2 p.m. with KFOR commander Erhard Buehler, to whom they proposed a solution for the current situation on Monday night.