8.11.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

08/11/2007

Police came under fire Wednesday as they went after members of a group led by two escaped convicts, including longtime guerilla leader Lirim Jakupi. The operation was co-ordinated with KFOR and Kosovo police.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje – 08/11/07

Several members of a militant group were killed Wednesday (November 7th) as Macedonian police launched an operation to clear an area near Tetovo of gunmen and outlaws. According to various sources, six or seven men died in the shootout on Sar Planina Mountain, near the border with Kosovo.

Police said the early morning operation targeted two escaped convicts from the Dubrava penitentiary — former ethnic Albanian guerilla commander Lirim “Nazi” Jakupi and Ramadan Siti — who were leading a group that had caused disturbances in the region for weeks. Armed men wearing black uniforms had been observed in the area for some time, occasionally setting up roadblocks to check passing vehicles.

According to Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska, gunmen opened fire on the police and began running away after the fire was returned. Some, she said, changed into women’s clothes and put scarves on their heads.

Speaking to reporters, she said police suffered no casualties in the attack. She denied reports that a helicopter had gone down during the shootout.

Jakupi was captured in 2004, following a gunfight in Skopje, during which three policemen were wounded. Prior to that, he was a commander in the now-disbanded Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvea and Bujanovac. He has also been convicted in Kosovo on charges on abducting ethnic Albanian civilians.

Police did not say whether he and Siti were killed, arrested or had escaped. However, Macedonian media have been reporting that Siti blew himself up with a bomb. The two men had escaped from prison together with five others in August.

Wednesday’s operation was co-ordinated with Kosovo security services, which stood by to intercept anyone who might try to cross the Macedonia-Kosovo border, a police press release said. KFOR was also informed about the action.

Substantial amounts of weapons were found at the positions the armed men occupied, including a Gulinov 12.7 mm. heavy machine gun, a triggerless cannon, hand rocket launchers, hand grenade launchers, Stingers, bombs and explosives. Access to the location has not been allowed to anyone except members of foreign observation missions.

Jakupi and Siti’s group is thought to include others wanted by Macedonian police and Interpol on various criminal charges. Police say as many as 50 extremists may have joined.

Macedonian officials have warned recently that extremists might try to take advantage of delays in the Kosovo final status process to trigger violence. In Kosovo, Veton Surroi’s reformist ORA party was quick to denounce the militants, saying they were criminals who sought to undermine stability in the region.

Gafur Adili, political leader of the outlawed Albanian National Army (ANA) said his group had nothing to do with Jakupi’s group. Macedonia is the last place where war should be waged, he told Macedonian media.

The Democratic Party of Albanians, part of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s ruling coalition, defended the police operation. “The reason for the police action, co-ordinated with the KFOR force and the Kosovo police, are criminal groups that, not being able to act in Kosovo, shifted to Macedonia with the intention to create tensions,” it said in a press release.

However, the largest ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia, Ali Ahmeti’s Democratic Union for Integration, criticised what it said was a disproportionate use of force by the police, claiming civilians had borne the brunt of the attack.

This content was commissioned for Setimes

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8.11.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Greek police arrest 25 people in massive operation

08/11/2007

ATHENS, Greece — Police launched a massive operation Wednesday (November 7th) and arrested 25 people in the village of Zoniana on Crete. They were held for a variety of offenses, including illegal possession of weapons, explosives and a small amount of drugs. The operation, which involved blocking all roads to the village, was aimed at arresting a gunmen involved in a shootout Monday that wounded three police officers. They had been dispatched to search the home of a local drug lord, known to have large cannabis plantations. The officers were ambushed by dozens of men armed with assault rifles. (AFP, Reuters, ANA-MPA, ERT, Kathimerini, DPA - 07/11/07)

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8.11.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Car bomb kills Bosnian whistleblower

08/11/2007

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — A man who accused Republika Srpska officials of corruption died when his car blew up on Wednesday (November 7th). Milan Vukelic, an employee of the town planning authority, accused his boss of taking bribes and the police of threatening him. Police have refused to comment on the accusations, but revealed they had been investigating the bombing of another car owned by the victim and an arson attack on his mother’s home. Two people were seriously injured when Vukelic’s car exploded on Banja Luka’s main street, near the interior ministry building. (AFP, Fena, Beta, B92, Studio B - 07/11/07)

Setimes

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8.11.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

UN tribunal investigates Croat journalists

08/11/2007

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands — The UN war crimes tribunal announced on Wednesday (November 7th) that it ordered the questioning of eight Croatian journalists to decide whether they should be charged with contempt of court. The suspects include three senior national television reporters as well as journalists from several of Croatia’s main newspapers. They are accused of publishing sections of the indictments against former generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, information that was deemed confidential at the time. The three defendants are charged in connection with the deaths of 150 Serbs and the expulsion of 200,000 others, during a military operation in the summer of 1995. (AFP, HINA, HRT, Vecernji List, Index.hr - 07/11/07)

Setimes

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