Thaci has luggage searched at airport

20 May 2010

PRIŠTINA -- The luggage of Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was searched in detail at the airport in Priština airport, Albanian language daily Zeri writes today. Hashim Thaci (FoNet, file) Thaci, and four other Priština government officials, Fatmir Limaj among them, “experienced a detailed search while passing through the airport's VIP zone on their departure for Turkey”, the daily wrote, adding that EULEX customs officers carried out the search. They also had to walk several meters, because their car was not allowed to get close to the airplane, which is a customary practice, according to the article. The door to the VIP zone, through which Kosovo's top-ranking officials usually drive, was blocked by a car of EULEX customs service, while several customs officers of the mission were standing nearby, said the report. EULEX officials did not release many details on this unusual customs control, but they clarified that it was a legal procedure. Customs officers of Kosovo and EULEX, in cooperation with the airport security, today carried out a luggage control using scanners and X-rays in the VIP zone of the Priština airport, which is a legal procedure, EULEX spokesperson Blerim Krasnici said. He did not specify whether the luggage checks were carried out with a particular goal. EULEX recently carried out a search of the Ministry of Transport, headed by Fatmir Limaj, on suspicion of that a large sum of money was embezzled. The trip of Thaci, Limaj and other ministers is taking place only a few days after the Franco-Turkish consortium had been granted a concession on the Priština airport. The selection was followed by corruption accusations by several competitive companies, opposition parties and representatives of the civil society, said reports.