Thousands of minority Serbs protest Kosovo's decision to abolish the Serbian dinar

Thousands of minority Serbs in Kosovo have protested a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live

MITROVICA, Kosovo -- Thousands of minority Serbs in Kosovo on Monday protested a ban of the use of the Serbian currenc y in areas where they live, an issue that has been the cause of the latest crisis in relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Tensions escalated after the government of Kosovo, a former Serbian province, banned banks and other financial institutions in the Serb-populated areas from using the dinar in local transactions, starting Feb. 1, and imposed the euro.

The dinar was widely used in ethnic Serbian-dominated areas, especially in Kosovo’s north, to pay pensions and salaries to staff in Serbian-run institutions, including schools and hospitals.

The ban has angered both Kosovo Serbs and Serbia. The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sparred over the issue at a meeting last week at the United Nations Security Council.

Protesters at the rally in the Serb part of the divided northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica said that abolishing the dinar violates the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo and is discriminatory. They urged the international community to put pressure on the Kosovo government to reverse the move.