Posted on 02/21/2004 6:15:28 PM PST by joan
A minister from Kosovo and four associates were injured in a car explosion late today, police said.
The explosion injuring Ethem Ceku, the environment and spatial planning minister in Kosovo’s government, and four others, occurred shortly after 10pm local time (9pm GMT) as their vehicle started to move, Refki Morina, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press.
The blast took place following a basketball game which the minister and his associates had attended in the city of Pec, 50 miles west of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo.
All five were injured and were immediately transported to the hospital. Their condition was not life-threatening, Mr Morina and hospital officials said.
Police cordoned off the area and could not immediately say what had caused the blast.
The minister is a member of the third biggest ethnic Albanian party in the province, which is led by a prominent, former ethnic Albanian rebel leader turned politician, Ramush Haradinaj.
Kosovo is legally part of Serbia-Montenegro – the union that replaced Yugoslavia last year – but has been administered by the UN and Nato since mid-1999, after an alliance air war ended a crackdown by Serb forces on ethnic Albanians.
Ramush is well known to KLA watchers. His extortion-murder spree against wealthy Pec Albanians was ruthless. He most infamous exploit was chucking a grenade into the Panda Cafe where a dozen high schoolers were drinking soft drinks in Dec 1998. He murdered six.
Ramush Haradinaj was cashiered by Kfor a while back. He had been a Major General in the KPC. (Salary paid for by US taxpayer)
Ramush thought that Ceku & Thaci were being too accomodating to Kfor. He took a ultra hard line.
The Albanian lobby in the US thought Ramush was a great guy and he came on a tour of the US, even going to Gongress feted as the future President of KosovA.
After getting kicked out of the KPC/KLA , Ramush started his own little protection racket(er political party).
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