Pristina - Policemen with the EU Kosovo mission EULEX in the city of Mitrovica deployed tear gas to prevent a potential violent confrontation between ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanians on Saturday. According to local media, police were acting to prevent rioting in the majority Serb city against ethnic Albanians who had returned to repair their homes destroyed in the 1998-99 civil war.

The ethnic Serbs had demanded a ban on ethnic Albanians rebuilding their homes.

EULEX police were supported by units from the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR.

The Serbs announced they would continue protests and threatened to employ violence to stop the Albanians. Around half of the Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority of 100,000 people live in Mitrovica.

Kovoso, which a year ago declared independence from Serbia, is inhabited by around 2 million ethnic Albanians. (dpa)