The EU began a long-delayed police and justice mission in Kosovo yesterday and international peacekeepers stepped up security in the north where Serbs oppose the move.

The first of a 1,900-strong force of European and American police, customs agents, judges and prosecutors began deployment in mainly Albanian Kosovo which seceded from Serbia in February.

In the Serb-controlled part of the divided flashpoint town of Mitrovica, EU policemen arrived wearing black flack jackets with red EULEX pinned on their shoulders.

"So far, in the north, 15 border policemen, four customs officers and eight police monitors and advisers in police stations have been deployed," EULEX spokesman Victor Reuter told reporters. Five mission members have been deployed in Mitrovica's court.

"The rest of about 100 forces are police officers from the special police units and other departments," he said about the force in the Serb-controlled north.

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