Kosovo president survives apparent assassination attempt - AP

By Fisnik Abrashi

The Associated Press


PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro -- Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova survived an apparent attempt on his life Tuesday when a bomb exploded as his convoy passed through central Pristina.

The bomb went off as Rugova was on his way to a meeting with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana. At least one person was injured.

An Associated Press reporter saw Rugova being transferred from one car to another after the blast, which damaged his car. He appeared to be unharmed. The car sped away.

"Thank God I survived again," he said when he arrived at the meeting. "Unfortunately there are still elements that want to destabilize Kosovo."

Last March, a hand grenade was hurled at Rugova's residence from a passing vehicle. The grenade exploded in the garden some three yards from the house. Rugova and his family were not hurt; no suspects were ever caught.

A police officer at the scene said Tuesday's blast appeared to have been caused by a remote-controlled explosive device.

The blast shattered windows in nearby shops and shredded roadside garbage bins. The bomb appeared to have been stashed in one of the small bins.

One person was injured by glass, police spokeswoman Sabrije Kamberi said. Police sealed off the site, and NATO-led peacekeepers used a robot to search for more bombs.

Rugova, a pacifist leader, was elected as Kosovo's president in 2002. He was re-elected in December last year when his party formed a coalition with the much smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

Haradinaj resigned last week after being indicted by a U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, for wartime atrocities allegedly committed against Serbs, Albanians and Gypsy civilians during the province's 1998-99 war against Serb forces.

Haradinaj pleaded not guilty Monday to 37 counts of war crimes.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since 1999 following a NATO war aimed at stopping the crackdown of Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.