BELGRADE (AFP) – Serbian President Boris Tadic said in an interview published yesterday that his country would be ready to negotiate with Kosovo after the International Court of Justice rules on its independence. “I am convinced that the International Court of Justice ought to decide that the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence has not been in accordance with the international law,” Tadic told the daily Vecernje Novosti. “I do not see a single legal argument for a different decision,” Tadic said.

ANKARA (AP) – Turkish authorities said two cargo ships have collided in the international waters of the Aegean Sea, causing damage. No injuries were reported. Maritime authorities say the Malta-flagged Marti Princess rammed into the German-flagged Renate Schulte late Saturday off the Turkish island of Bozcaada, near the Dardanelles strait. Eleven of the 18 crew members of the Marti Princess have been evacuated. The cause of the accident is not clear.

A Turkish man allegedly smuggling fuel across the border with Iran was shot and killed by Iranian troops as he tried to run away, security sources in Turkey told Reuters late on Saturday. The man, identified as Yavuz O., and his brother had crossed the border from the Turkish province of Van on foot on Friday to buy fuel oil, which is sold at a deep discount in Iran, the sources said. Yavuz O. was shot when he ignored an order from Iranian border guards to stop, the sources said. (Reuters)

Some 2,000 Serbs gathered for a religious ceremony yesterday at the site of a historic 14th-century battle, demonstrating their opposition to Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. “We love Serbia,” said a huge banner at Gazimestan, the site northwest of the capital Pristina where the medieval Serb army was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the famous battle of Kosovo in 1389. Three Serbian ministers from Belgrade attended the Orthodox Christian liturgy commemorating the 620th anniversary of the battle. No incidents were reported during the ceremony. (AFP)