Minister for Kosovo calls for extremists to be disarmed

Source: Beta, Tanjug

ZVEČAN -- Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanović has urged international troops in Kosovo to disarm ethnic Albanian extremist groups in the north of the province.

KFOR troops are seen in northern Kosovska Mitrovica (Beta)

Serbs are the majority north of the Ibar River, rejecting the authority of the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Priština, as well as their unilateral declaration of independence made in early 2008.
Speaking on Wednesday, Bogdanović was commenting on video footage that had been broadcast by television outlets both in Priština and the north, and was also posted on the internet.

It shows "armed Albanians in northern Kosovo", and was first aired on Top Channel Albania on April 13, according to reports.

Priština's "adventurism", warned the minister, "could lead to unforeseeable consequences".

"The emergence of armed groups in the north of the province is the result of the drive, above all of Priština, to violently and through unilateral actions put the north of Kosovo and Metohija under its control," Bogdanovoić continued.

"We have been warning international representatives about the announcements coming from top political leaders of Kosovo's Albanians that they will integrate the north using force, and that the expansion of Albanian extremism could lead to violence. The result of this policy of unilateral moves and violence is now seen in action," Beta news agency reported him as saying.

A Tanjug report said that Bogdanović "urged the international community representatives to investigate if there were any armed extremist groups in the Kosovo north and to disarm them if they found them".

“This is a serious moment and high time the international presence demonstrated the resolve to suppress Albanian extremism,” the minister said, and called on the EU mission, EULEX , to "immediately clear up the murder Selver Haradinaj" - an ethnic Albanian who died in his apartment in northern Kosovska Mitrovica when an explosive device was activated earlier this month.

"Priština and Albanian extremists are only using the opportunity to purport that the killing of the Albanian was ethnically motivated," Tanjug quoted Bogdanović as saying.