UNESCO condemns Dečani attack

UNESCO condemns Dečani attack

The monastery is part of the ensemble of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, included on the World Heritage List in 2004, and put on the World Heritage Endangered List in 2006, the UNESCO says in a statement.

"UNESCO and the whole international community recognized the universal value of this property when they included it on the World Heritage List. We remain committed to pursuing the work undertaken to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage in Kosovo and I urge the leaders of all of Kosovo's communities to exercise restraint for the sake of a heritage that is valuable to us all,” Matsuura said.

The statement went on to add that the Dečani Monastery, the largest medieval church in South-Eastern Europe, featuring exceptionally rich Byzantine paintings and Romanesque statues, has come under attack several times since the late 1990s.

Initial reports indicate that the 14th century edifice sustained only light damage in last week's attack. None of the monks living in the Monastery were injured.

Following an attack in March 2004, the Director-General of UNESCO sent a mission of experts to assess the damage done to cultural heritage in Kosovo.

Matsuura also convened a donors' conference, with the support of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) held in May 2005.

Three million dollars (US) were raised for rehabilitation work on a number of cultural and religious sites that form part of the cultural heritage in Kosovo, the statement concluded.