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Belgrade, May 4, 2004 - Head of the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Nebojsa Covic said after a meeting with UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura that the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation will make a report by the end of May on the extent of damage to Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo-Metohija which were demolished during the outbreak of ethnic violence by Kosovo Albanians in March this year.
The Head of the Coordinating Centre suggested Koichiro Matsuura that the expert mission be expanded by including specialists from the Serbian Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments, as well as representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Covic said that the UNESCO Director General will launch a campaign for raising funds for the reconstruction of the Orthodox churches and temples in Kosovo-Metohija that were demolished between March 17 and 19. He reiterated that some 150 Orthodox sacred sites have been burned down and destroyed since June 1999. |