Serb justice workers in northern Kosovska Mitrovica have protested this morning in front of the District Court building at not being allowed to return to work.

They were due to resume their jobs in line with an earlier agreement with UNMIK.

The justice workers have warned representatives of the international mission that a solution to the problem is impossible without an agreement with the Serb community, and have warned of a blockade of the court unless Serb prosecutors and judges are allowed to return to their posts.

The Serbs say that UNMIK has failed to honor an agreement whereby, following the arrival of international prosecutors and judges at the court building in early October, their Serb counterparts were due to reassume their positions as part of the second phase, starting on December 2.

The court in northern Kosovska Mitrovica has been out of operation since March 17, after clashes between UNMIK police and Serb demonstrators who gathered after the arrest of Serb prosecutors and judges. One Ukrainian police officer died and 200 people were injured during the violence that ensued.

A spokesman for the justice workers, Nikola Kabašić, told journalists that UNMIK had been drawing out talks with the Serbs, and that the latest date set for the withdrawal of UNMIK personnel from the building was January 15.

They are due to be replaced by EULEX prosecutors and judges