SERBIA-KOSOVO-VOTE

Roma boys dressed as ninja fighters pose in the Zitkovac refugee camp in North Mitrovica, 19 January 2007, where 40 families and 100 children live near toxic metal waste left from the Trepca mines, which were among the largest in Europe, supplying lead, zinc and gold. The Roma were forced to the Serb populated northern side of the divided province when their houses were burned to the ground in the Albanian populated south Mitrovica during the violent retaliations against Kosovo Serbs and Rom in 1999. The shadow of Kosovo and its demands for independence from Belgrade loom large over Serbia’s general election which will swiftly be followed by a UN decision on the future status of the province. AFP PHOTO / DIMITAR DILKOFF