Dark clouds loom over Kosovo

Murder ups tension as breakaway province preps to mark ’versary

PRISTINA, Jan 21, (AFP): The assassination of a prominent Serb politician has cast another dark cloud above Kosovo as it is prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of its independence.

Unilaterally declared on February 17, 2008, the independence of Serbia’s breakaway province is recognised by more than 110 countries.

But Belgrade and many of the 120,000 members of Kosovo’s Serb minority, refuse to do so almost 20 years after the 1990s war.

The conflict pitting Serbian security forces against Kosovo Albanian guerrillas claimed 13,000 lives, mostly ethnic Albanians.

The Jan 16 murder of moderate Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic has sparked fresh tensions in the volatile region.

The 64-year-old was shot dead from a car in northern Mitrovica, a Serbpopulated part of the ethnically divided flashpoint town.

He was the only top Kosovo Serb politician to have publicly denounced Belgrade’s policies in Kosovo, earning him the label “traitor” from detractors.

The murder, whose perpetrators have not yet been identified, has “the

Protesters briefly scuffled with riot police as they massed in Bucharest’s University Square. Protesters shouted: “Thieves, thieves!” and “Resign!” and blew whistles and waved Romanian flags. They then marched toward Parliament.

Protesters of all ages came to vent their anger at the left-wing government, some accompanied by dogs or children.

Architect Tiberiu Calinescu, 30, who was carrying his 4-month-old daughter, said: “I have come here for the future of my daughter,” adding “I want to live in a Romania that is civilized and close to European” standards.

Diana Gradinaru, a 45-year-old economist, potential to destabilise Kosovo”, political analyst Ramush Tahiri told AFP.

It already prompted the suspension of EU-mediated talks between Serb and Kosovo negotiators, which had been due to resume on the day Ivanovic was killed.

The indefinite halt of discussions “is bad for our country,” commented Zeri, one of Kosovo’s leading daily newspapers.

Auspices

Begun in 2011 under EU auspices, the process of normalising ties has been at a standstill for months. A number of key issues remain yet to be solved including the status of “Serbmajority municipalities”.

Tensions already rose in December after lawmakers in Kosovo (population 1.8 million) made a failed bid to scrap a new special court trying ethnic Albanian ex-guerillas suspected of committing war crimes during the 1998-1999 conflict.

The EU-backed tribunal, based in The Hague, is poised to begin issuing indictments.

But senior war veterans of the socalled

said the new legislation could result in “terrible thefts” by high-level officials, citing legislation that meant video and audio recordings could no longer be used as evidence in prosecutions. (AP)

Serbs urged to remain calm:

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged Kosovo Serbs on Saturday to remain calm after the murder of a prominent political leader that sparked fears of renewed tensions in the fragile region.

“Let us solve things peacefully,” Vucic said during a visit to the northern part of the ethnically divided flashpoint town of Mitrovica, where moderate Serb politician Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) have demanded that MPs abolish the law on what they say is a “biased” court.

President Hashim Thaci, the former head of the KLA’s political wing, is rumoured to be among those prosecuted for the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of around 500 civilians, mostly ethnic Serbs. A brother of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is also thought to be under investigation.

Calling the court into question would be “a terrible example of self interest prevailing over the common good and Kosovo’s interest as a state,” the US ambassador to Kosovo Greg Delawie said, warning that the move would have “harsh consequences”.

It would turn Kosovo into a “rogue state” joining the ranks of North Korea or Iran, according to security expert Lulzim Peci.

For some Kosovars, the situation has already taken a turn for the worse.

“It is too late to change something,” said Zenel Kastrati, 57, a shopkeeper in Pristina, who is against a “confrontation with the United States and other Western friends”.

Oliver Ivanovic was shot dead on Tuesday.

“It is better that I talk with (Kosovo President Hashim) Thaci ... than a single bullet be fired,” he said after meeting several dozen Kosovo Serbs, mostly local officials from the Serb party backed by his ruling coalition in Belgrade.

Ivanovic was shot dead by assailants firing from a car as he arrived at his party’s headquarters in northern Mitrovica. His killers have not yet been identified.

The assassination raised fears that the already tense situation could worsen in northern Kosovo, which is mostly populated by a Serb minority. (AFP)