Albanian police defuse bomb outside home of U.S. agency employee

TIRANA (AP) - Albanian police deactivated what appeared to be a bomb outside the home of a driver working for a U.S. political organization, officials said Wednesday.

A police news release said 200-gram explosive with a fuse and a threatening letter were found Tuesday night at the entrance of the driver's home in Kavaja, 50 kilometres west of the capital Tirana. The letter warned the driver, Durim Haxhhysa, to quit his job or "be exterminated, " the Albanian newspaper Shekulli reported.

The newspaper identified the organization as the National Democratic Institute but that was not confirmed by police or the U.S. Embassy. A woman answering the telephone at the institute referred a caller to police but declined comment.

Albania increased security around government and other public buildings following November bomb attacks in Turkey, fearing Albania, too, could become a terrorist target.

It has 71 troops stationed in the northern Iraqi city Mosul and it has opened its airspace and bases for use by the U.S.-led forces.

three near misses??

By Christopher Deliso,
Balkanalysis.com

A sign of the times in Kosovo? According to official internal sources, there have been TWO near-death experiences for UN staff in Pristina in the past 4 days. While these did not result in any out-of-body experiences, they could have except for luck and watchfulness.

On 20 December at 9:05 AM, an UNMIK vehicle in Pristina was discovered with a grenade attached to one of its wheels. The grenade should have been activated when the vehicle swung into motion, but "...it failed to detonate as the wire broke and the lever remained intact."

Hours later, at 4:45 PM, a second booby trap was discovered underneath a UN vehicle in Pristina- an M75 grenade attached to the car’s left front bumper. Fortunately, the driver was told about the presence of the deadly object by a “commuter” and it was safely removed. No arrests have been reported thus far, though investigations have begun.

These sobering examples of the UN’s increasing vulnerability in Kosovo came, ironically enough, barely a month after outgoing NATO Secretary George Robertson arrived for a stage-managed appearance dedicated to whitewashing the West’s utter failure in Kosovo since 1999. While admitting that "the picture is still not perfect," Robertson claimed that NATO’s troops had "...fulfilled the mission of United Nations Security Resolution 1244 to provide a 'stable and secure environment' for the people of Kosovo." Averred Robinson:

“‘…we allowed people to resume their normal lives, and we provided the necessary backdrop for other international organizations to be able to fulfill their work,’ Lord Robertson said.”

If only this were true! In any case, despite the failure to mention that human rights and democracy have deteriorated steadily in the UN’s Kosovo, Robertson did manage to perpetuate the illusion that all of the province’s problems owed to “the nationalistic highly destructive… Milosevic policy.”

Would that these same Western saviors had the time to congratulate themselves on their victory. However, it now seems that they have more to worry about just in terms of not being killed by the same people they liberated in 1999.

The problem is doubly vexing. Fears have been growing in recent months that UNMIK workers in Kosovo might be targeted by Albanian nationalists angry at arrests and trials of militants, subservience to international institutions, and even a poor economy. At the same time, since UNMIK presents such a plush target for any al Qaeda cells operating in the Balkans, security officials must be vigilant against that threat as well. It has been argued that Albanian extremist groups are cooperating with the al Qaeda, but evidence of such an association has not been revealed, publicly at least.

According to Debka.com, intelligence information gleaned from recent anti-terrorist raids in Germany, Italy and the UK helped UNMIK staff to increase security and forestall “…a specific threat against international organizations in the UN-run province and neighboring Macedonia.”

KFOR itself has acknowledged such claims. A press release of 28 November states that security measures taken then “…represent a measured, prudent and deterrent response” to a specific threat, though they would not release any information on potential targets.

Interestingly, KFOR also stated that it “and the Police” were committed to providing security for the province. It is known that the “Police,” i.e., the Kosovo Protection Corps, is staffed and run by many of the former KLA thugs who fought the Yugoslav Army in 1999 and then graduated to the Macedonian academy 2 years later. Numerous events this year, especially the botched bridge detonations in northeastern Kosovo that left two bombers dead, show that the KPC still retains links with outlawed extremist groups such as the AKSH. In other words, KFOR and KPC cooperation goes only so far. If it is not in the interests of KPC leaders to cooperate on certain crimes- whether they be attacks against Serbian churches or attempted murder of UN staff- then it will simply be a case-closed situation. It is demonstrably clear that unassailably honest institutions are not yet operating in Kosovo. And it is also highly unlikely that individual foreign UN staff have the ability to penetrate Albanian militant groups, which tend to be tight-knit and suspicious of outsiders. Therefore, UNMIK and KFOR staff are in a vulnerable and potentially dangerous situation, which can basically be translated as, don’t make the natives restless.

In Kosovo, it used to be that just crimes against Serbs and Serbian property were left unsolved; yet if crimes such as the grenade plantings of December 20th go unsolved, it will show that the UN has worn out its welcome in Kosovo, and that there is only one way out- to go home. If, in the interest of building up respectable institutions UNMIK decides it has granted too much power to the KPC, removing that power will cause a serious backlash. Since this would be too dangerous a risk to take, UNMIK may have to just watch its step and continue working with people some of whom have really malevolent intentions. Much to the UN’s chagrin, the ball is now in the Albanians’ court.

While disturbing, this type of incident is not unusual in Albania. What makes the case remarkable is the possible American agency connection. However, it is extremely unlikely this event is motivated by politics but instead is a revenge type scenario being played out with a "friendly" warning to the driver -- with the American connection being mere coincidence.

Tirana remains a very soft target with extensive Islamic entente activity in the capital. When the opposition desires a large headline-making body count they will be able to achieve it in Albania: The West with no defence versus a carefully orchestrated Islamic entente "Night of the Long Knives". However it is unlikely they would risk their secure base of operations there just to put up a number -- unless such an attack was part of a multi-country terror strike.

All sides operate with impunity in Albania and with the current policy overlap concerning Kosovo and the Tetovo Republic it is not beyond the realm of possibility to see occasional cooperation between East and West in the Olde Country. Albanianism is a very practical philosophy -- MANPADS cheaper in Tirana than any place West of Tblisi.

This driver probably a bit wiser than before...

The forces of freedom on the move. Europe trembles.

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