Posted on 08/28/2002 10:55:19 AM PDT by Destro
AP World Politics
Bomb hits party office of ex-rebel leader of Macedonia's ethnic Albanians
Wed Aug 28,11:17 AM ET
SKOPJE, Macedonia - Attackers threw a hand grenade Wednesday at the party office of a former ethnic Albanian rebel leader, damaging the building but causing no injuries, an official said.
The assailants threw the grenade at the headquarters of a party recently founded by Ali Ahmeti, the leader of a six-month insurgency last year, said police spokesman Voislav Zafirovski.
At the time of the attack, Ahmeti was not in the office of the Democratic Union for Integration, and three security guards present were not hit by the grenade, Zafirovski said. A nearby shop and two cars were also severely damaged.
Zafiroski said that it was not clear that Ahmeti's party was the target of the attack, but noted that two other party offices in other parts of the capital, Skopje, were hit by stones overnight.
Ahmeti's spokesman Agron Buxhaku said, "We condemn this attack in the harshest terms. It will not deter us from our objectives and we will not respond by violence to such provocations.
"We will continue to cooperate with all of the relevant institutions to prevent any kind of destabliziation that would threaten the peace in Macedonia," he added.
The incident came amid fears of increasing violence ahead of Sept. 15 parliamentary elections — the first ballot since the end of the insurgency launched in February 2001 by ethnic Albanians.
After last year's fighting ended, the parliament amended the constitution and laws to grant the minority — nearly a third of the country's 2 million people — greater political influence.
On Monday, two police officers were shot to death in western Macedonia.
An ethnic Albanian splinter group, which defies the peace deal and calls itself Albanian National Army, has taken responsibility for Monday's killings. In a statement posted on its Internet site, it vowed to re-ignite violence and "very soon urge the (ethnic Albanian) people into a general revolt to liberate and unite the Albanian lands."
Ahmeti, who supports the peace deal, is competing for ethnic Albanian votes with two other large parties representing the restive minority. The ANA is also among his rivals.
Zafirovski said authorities suspect Wednesday's attack was the work of "terrostist-exstremist groups of ethnic Albanians" whose aim is to "destabilize peace and security and to provoke new conflict in the country during the election period."
(pvs/drp)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.