Kosovo

[Ethyl]

UN targeted in Kosovo blasts


Three explosions have rocked Kosovo's capital, targeting the UN mission headquarters and the province's parliament.

No one was injured by the blasts, which occurred almost simultaneously within 500 metres of each other in Pristina on Saturday evening.

One explosion set ablaze three vehicles in the parking lot of the UN headquarters at about 9:30 p.m. local time.

Another detonated near the building of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OECD), which is connected to the UN mission.

The third damaged a building that houses Kosovo's parliament and other government offices.

Police sealed off the area, but there was no immediate word on who was behind the blasts.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, when NATO-led troops drove out Serb forces accused of committing atrocities against ethnic Albanians.

The explosions came at the launch of a UN review on the future of the province, including whether it should remain part of Serbia or become independent, as its Albanian majority demands.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/07/02/kosovo-050702.html

[Ethyl]

Kosovo Leaders: Blasts Meant To Block Independence


3 July 2005 -- Kosovo's ethnic Albanian president says that three explosions in the capital Prishtina late yesterday were efforts to sabotage independence for the province.


The blasts shook a triangle of central Prishtina. No one was injured.

President Ibrahim Rugova said today that the aim of the perpetrators is to destablize the country and to influence a UN assessment of its stability.

UN envoy Kai Eide arrived in Kosovo on 1 July to begin an assessment of whether Kosovo -- a Serbian province now under UN administration -- has matured sufficiently to participate in negotiations on its future status.

The province's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, but Kosovo's Serbian minority and its Serbian neighbors insist that it remains part of the federation of Serbia and Montenegro.

(Reuters/AP)

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/07/051eeff6-1dfb-4f36-8e11-37de66417e2a.html

[Petronas]

Islamic Terror In Kosovo
February 14, 2007

An Albanian Muslim extremist from Kosovo was recently arrested after allegedly plotting to blow up the parliament building in Montenegro. 55-year-old Dodu L. was arrested by Austrian authorities last month while trying to board a flight in Vienna. 12 other ethnic Albanians were reportedly involved in the plot. There is growing concern that Kosovo, a disputed region in the southern province of Serbia, is emerging as a bastion of radical Islam. ...

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/104458.aspx

[Casey]

Kosovo Parliament Declares Independence


Bela Szandelszky
Kosovar Albanians dance with an American flag in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, while celebrating the upcoming independence of Kosovo, Feb. 17, 2008. AP


NPR.org, February 17, 2008 · Kosovo is declaring independence. During a special parliamentary session Sunday, Serbia's breakaway province proclaimed itself the world's newest state.

The declaration received a stern reaction from the Serbian president, who said his nation would never accept an independent Kosovo. President Bush said the U.S. would work to prevent violence after the declaration and the European Union also appealed for calm.

Deputies unanimously approved the declaration of independence in a solemn session of Parliament. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci . read the declaration, saying, "We the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state," adding, "This declaration reflects the will of the people."

Across the capital, Pristina, revelers danced in the streets, fired guns into the air and waved red and black Albanian flags in jubilation at the birth of the world's newest country.

Earlier, Thaci delivered a speech underscoring that the new state would ensure the rights of all minorities and will be democratic and multiethnic.

By sidestepping the U.N. and appealing directly to the U.S. and other nations for recognition, Kosovo set up a showdown with Serbia — outraged at the imminent loss of its territory — and Russia, which warned that it would set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups worldwide.

From NPR reports and The Associated Press
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19130955