K. Albanian armed group threatens "for action"

Source: Tanjug

PRIŠTINA -- The so-called Albanian National Army (ANA) has threatened "armed action" in northern, Serb parts of Kosovo, according to reports on Sunday.

ANA members pose for reporters in 2007 (file)

Albanian language media in Priština quoted media in Albania and said the group announced the threats would materialize "unless Kosovo had an army by the end of September".

The group reportedly sent this message to the Kosovo Albanian prime minister and president, demanding that the "Armed Forces of Kosovo" be formed by September 30.

The ANA statement was signed by the group's "political spokesman" Sazan Toplica.

Should these demands be ignored, said the statement, the terrorists "will be forced to resume their military actions in the northern part of the republic of Kosovo".

The statement further noted that the group "temporarily suspended its activities after the proclamation of independence of Kosovo, in order to give Kosovo's institutions a chance to consolidate the armed forces of Kosovo".

"However, that did not happen," Toplica was quoted in the media.

The ethnic Albanian group was declared a terrorist organization by the UN mission in the province, UNMIK, after ANA members in 2003 planted some 60 kilograms of explosives on the railway line in the predominantly Serb, northern part of the province.