Kirby: Who ordered police withdrawal from embassies?

Kirby: Who ordered police withdrawal from embassies?

"We believe someone is responsible for police withdrawal from the embassies, which threatened their safety. We would like this to end in order to finally close these cases," Kirby told journalists at the offices of the Red Cross Serbia.

Last winter, the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office launched a new investigation to determine what kind of omissions was made during and after the protest rally dubbed "Kosovo is Serbia" and who made them. A preliminary investigation against several persons is underway.

The Higher Court in Belgrade sentenced Wednesday to suspended prison terms of five to 10 months nine people accused of setting fire to the U.S. embassy in Belgrade on February 21, 2008, following a protest against Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, while two persons have been cleared of charges.

Kirby also said on Friday that the topics of the forthcoming visit of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to the U.S. would include Serbia's EU path, business and employment increase, as well as the case of Bytyqi brothers.

The Bytyqi brothers - Agron, Mehmet and Ylli, American citizens of Kosovo-Albanian origin, were killed at a police training camp in Petrovo Selo, a village in eastern Serbia, shortly after the end of the Kosovo conflict. They were members of the so-called Atlantic Brigade which operated as part of the KLA.

Replying to reporters' questions as to whether he is disappointed by the lack of progress in the Bytyqi case, Kirby said that progress has been made but not every piece of information about the procedure is presented to the public.

I had a number of meetings with the prime minister, republic prosecutor, justice minister and minister of interior affairs, and some of the information about the case has been made public while other data have not been disclosed, Kirby told reporters in the premises of the Red Cross where the U.S. embassy organized a voluntary blood drive action to mark the 14th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Vucic will visit Washington on September 15 where he will confer with U.S. Deputy Vice President Joseph Biden.