PRISTINA (AP)--NATO-led peacekeepers said Monday that "criminals" were stopping cars and halting traffic in western Kosovo after local media reports revealed that masked and armed man put up checkpoints in the area.
"We have some information about some criminals who are acting" in western Kosovo, said Lt. Col. Siegfried Jooss, spokesman for the peacekeepers in that part of the province. "They tried to stop cars," he added.
Local media have reported that a group calling itself "The Army for Kosovo's Independence" is setting up checkpoints in the west of the province and threatening U.N. and Kosovo officials with death and kidnapping if they stand in the way of the province's independence.
Jooss said that NATO were "doing their best" in assisting local and U.N. police force in "countering these criminals." U.N. police refused to comment.
However, the U.N. warned its staff against nighttime travel in U.N. marked vehicles in western Kosovo, an official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
An increased number of NATO and police checkpoints have been set up in that part of the province following last week's sightings of the group, who were wearing balaclavas, carrying automatic rifles and handing out leaflets containing the threats.
The appearance of armed extremist groups at a time when this disputed U.N.-run province nears talks on its future is a worrying sign for security officials in Kosovo. There are fears that extremists group might retort to violence if they aren't happy with the outcome of the talks.
Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since 1999. Talks to resolve its disputed status will start by the end of the year.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians want full independence while Serbia insists it retains some authority over the province.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
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20 comments:
Kosovo sure seems ready for self rule. NOT!!!!!
Sure, sure you're the judge and the jury of this issue. Idiot.
LOL this was funny!
criminals? they are albanian freedom fighters--members of the KLA and the ANA and every other albanian terrorist group that thirsts for blood. nothing new here.
Just taking some preventive measure incase independance doesn't come. Kosova will not get independence well because serbia has more backing (russia and china mainly) Remember there are reports that there is military activity in the Serbian side as well especially in Presheva valley! Albanian are people that think ahead plan ahead. If independance is given then 'the criminals' will diffuse in peace and live happily ever after. If not well KFOR and NATO should leave because it will et caught in crossfire
Leets say if we dont get Independence, then we dont have any choice but WAR against all those who reject our soverign state!
Love Live Republic of Kosova
with your attitudes, above posters. more albanians will die and live in kosovostan, ruled by the internationals for generations to come. you guys are as dumb as rocks.
Well this independance has to have a resolution in the UN security council. In which RUSSIA ha veto on . So Kosovo will never get independance .Independence Belive me it is the best solution for balkans if not well there will be a spark in Macedonia Parts of serbia since there is a lot of albanians also in Montenegro. Well if everyone is against Albanians well Albanian will put a Jihad on everyone that is against them and there we we have another Balkan War but this time religion might play a part AGAIN.
Most western countrys agree the best solution for Kosova is to give Independence, with an EU supervision. That my people can live with, but when it comes to conditional independence then it will spread confusions. At the same time ANA/KLA will gain support by the people to point the fault against UNMIK/KFOR and thats the last thing both partys whant... in other words Indepedence will be the last choice... i mean even the Serbian side knows Kosova is lost they only whant get back some compensation from USA, EU and UN
Pejoni
animals:
Eye for an eye, life for a life
By Chris Summers and Paulin Kola
BBC News
Two men have been sentenced for their part in murdering an Albanian man in London. The BBC News website looks at the ancient blood feuds culture which spawned it.
The killers of Denis Ceka
Shpetim Selhaka and Petrit Manahasa were recently jailed
Albania is one of Europe's poorest countries - a million people have left seeking jobs since the communist regime collapsed in 1991.
The country is desperately trying to catch up with the rest of Europe and both the main political parties agree that the long-term goal is to get into the EU.
But criminality - be it blood feuds, drugs or human trafficking - remains a stain on Albania's reputation and one it is struggling to remove.
In many parts of the country, and in neighbouring Kosovo, the culture of blood feuding dates back to the 16th century and was enshrined in a series of rules enforced locally.
The best-known among them - the 16th century Kanun (or Canon) of Lek Dukagjin - re-emerged in the early 1990s after decades of suppression under the communists.
When blood feuds came to UK
Denis Ceka, whose body was discovered near London's Heathrow airport in September 2002, was a victim of such a feud.
His killers, Petrit Manahasa and Shpetim Selhaka, were recently jailed for 20 and 19 years respectively for his murder. Both have since appealed and the sentences are not final.
Tonin Gjuraj, a university lecturer in the city of Shkodra, one of the worst affected areas of the country, has researched the issue.
He told the BBC News website: "This is a disgrace. Acts of revenge justified on the basis of the Kanun are often nothing more than common criminal offences in an area where law enforcement remains weak.
Albanian election poster
July's elections swept away Socialist prime minister Fatos Nano
"As such, they have nothing in common with the main tenets of the Kanun."
Albanian government officials play down the problem and say it has diminished significantly in recent years.
Two years ago the country's then prime minister Fatos Nano organised an initiative designed to stamp out blood feuds, which almost disappeared during the communist era but re-emerged in the early 1990s - especially in northern Albania and in neighbouring Kosovo.
Clarissa de Waal, a social anthropologist from Cambridge University, said blood feuds were one of a number of symptoms of Albania's economic conditions.
Dr de Waal, who has published a book called Albania Today: A Portrait of Post-Communist Turbulence, said: "Blood feuds is a phenomenon you get in areas where there are few jobs and only a subsistence economy. A lot of it is due to squabbling over land."
Out of proportion?
Dr Gjuraj is concerned about the phenomenon but also fears it may be being blown out of all proportion - by Albanian non-governmental organisations keen to attract funds from foreigners mystified at the existence of the ancient practice in Europe, and by international organisations eager to prolong their mandate in the country.
Denis Ceka was followed to Britain from Albania by his killers
Dr de Waal agrees that some groups appear keen on exaggerating the problem but said: "The fact is that a lot of Albanians don't believe jail is a quid pro quo. A lot of people want to bring back the death penalty."
She claimed that in some cases killers have paid corrupt officials to secure freedom.
Dr de Waal said blood feuds were linked to a concept of "neighbourhood opinion" strong in Albanian communities.
She told the BBC News website: "These families often get involved in blood feuds because if they don't they will be perceived as cowards."
That ethic has spread among the Albanian diaspora with groups claiming victims in Italy, Germany, Britain and the United States.
The Tirana-based Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes said there were 2,000 murders in the country between 1997 and 2000, half of which were said to have been linked to blood feuds.
Vendettas
It said 150 families had been forced to stay indoors for safety.
The foundation added that in many cases entire families had been forced into vendettas as a result of the involvement of second or third cousins.
This is a disgrace. Acts of revenge justified on the basis of the Kanun are often nothing more than common criminal offences in an area where law enforcement remains weak
Dr Tonin Gjuraj
Albanian government officials are keen to stress the country has moved on a lot since 1997, when a crisis caused by failed pyramid schemes led to a three-month state of anarchy.
They say the country is working hard to improve its economy, political structure and criminal justice system and they say foreign investment is on the increase.
It may be some time before Albania is considered ready for entry to the EU and blood feud cases, like that of Denis Ceka, may continue to blight the country's image.
It is necessary to clean the province from all these criminals and to arrest their chiefs. We know their names and their location.
P.S It is because of peopele that share the same attitude as you that the Serbs turned Jugoslavia into a joke.
Criminals in kosovo,skopjea,and in Epirus does not surprise me since they all have shitares running around like dogs.Prosfygies in every corner.I rather have the slavoskopjeanis living next to Hellas than 4th world crap like you.Filthy criminal beggars.
I beg you pardon
Watch your mouths.
Albanians are people with high dignity there are those few that call them selfs albanians but have disgraced it such as Fatos Nano ( of which is considered your friend) the boss of so called Albanian Mafia.Serbia oppressed us with violonce.UNMIK is also a regime which opressing us financially,psychologically also in some cases theie military presence has a feel of military Occupation which has flsh backs This is what we didnt want ( they have disgraced our dignity as albanians. unmik played with us like toys Nato soldiers hunted out girls like dogs to rape them. I can almost see parallel incidents from the uprising against milosevic and agaisnt UNMIK.
The BBC articles is painting a very bad picture of albanians as many other meida in the world some are denying of genocide in Kosova.
Yes the world is against Albanians,Bosnian Muslims, Chechens, Iraqis, and all people that have embraced islam and dont want to go into worshiping a cross.
Albanians are people with high dignity don't mess with it or you will be burned we don't care with how many nuclear,biological or chemical bombs you threat me by.
albanians have no dignity. they have others fight their wars for them because they knew they could not win. cowards have no dignity.
A typical Serb soldiers' enemy were children 0-15 years old, elders, and women, possibly pregnant. This is why there are tens of thousand of people from this groups murdered by the Serbs.
Two weeks ago the dug out the body of a seven month old Albanian girl from a mass grave in Serbia. The Serbs should be the last one to talk about dignity.
Lets not talk about the Greeks, the inventors of homosexuality and pedophilia.
Oh don't you worry we can fight wars. Before NATO intervened KLA had prepared a bbatlle field that would take the intire Albanian land let alone Kosova. The international communty was really woried of the organistaion and strength of KLA.Europe coulnt let ALbanian take the land back, they were the ones that divided albanian from the start. Believe you me Albanians can fight.
This is the options international communty has :
Kosova independance
or
Balkan war in GREECE,MONTENEGRO,SERBIA and MACEDONIA maybe BOSNIA would just root out Republic of Serbia out of their land.
People with descions should look at these options and think hard before they descide
...and the above poster is the reason that kosovo and albania will do what the international community tells them to do. a doomed race of bloodlusting, vengeance seeking neanderthals.
This blog site is a tool of Albanian nationalist extremists aimed at creating a negative image of Sebia based on manipulating facts and selective editing of existing articles. Be warned that the content on this site is largely fabricated and therefore should not be taken seriously. Sites such as this do nothing more than fuel hostility.
If you look closely at the articles, they are all Anti-Serbian. Racism is a terrible thing.
As a person who has lived in Pristina, I can tell this : If Albanians declare independency and KFOR leaves the scene....I bet there will be 15 000 serbian "peacekeepers" after that. And Serbia is about to apply for membership in EU, so maybe they may say for the International community that" hey, we are fair, now we give Kosovo their independency" which means that the albanians are f**ked .. again :( But the main problem in Kosovo is the corruption and the organized crime. It has to be eliminated, not only by Unmik, because UNMIK is as badly corrupted, due to those UN officials, who come even from worse conditions as the albanians do.
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