UN investigate Kosovo police role in bomb attack
United Nations police in Kosovo are investigating the possible involvement of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) in a bomb blast last week that killed two people, a spokesman for the Kosovo police said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Veton Elshani said U.N. police had seized seven police vehicles from a station in the southern town of Urosevac for examination, after witnesses reported seeing police vehicles at the scene before the blast in the early hours of Sept. 24.
He added he could not rule out the possibility that the explosion, which tore through shops and cafes in the capital Pristina was "linked to the murder in August of Kosovo police officer Triumf Riza."
"We will return the vehicles soon, and we might take other cars from other stations," said Elshani. "It could be linked to the Riza murder. We do not exclude anything, or any link."
Police originally said the bomb attack was criminally motivated. Local media said the target was a gang leader suspected of involvement in the murder of Riza, who was gunned down on August 30 in Pristina. The gang leader was not among the bomb victims.
If the KPS police involvement were confirmed it would come as a blow to the credibility of the force, hailed by the UN mission in Kosovo as one of the rare success stories in the territory since the 1998-99 war.
