Clearer view of Kosovo riot leaders emerges
EU official hints of possible arrests
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro -- The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, told Kosovo Albanians yesterday that Western intelligence had a clear picture of who led last week's orgy of arson, rioting, and expulsion of Serbs.
"When we start arresting those responsible, do not jump up clamoring for their release," he was quoted as saying by sources close to his talks with Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, President Ibrahim Rugova, and other Albanian leaders.
NATO allies have blamed Albanian extremists for organizing the violence, but Solana's comments appeared to indicate that they have specific information about the ringleaders.
Kosovo was calm over the weekend, but late Tuesday gunmen outside the capital, Pristina, raked a UN patrol car with bullets, killing a Ghanaian officer and his Albanian partner.
They were the first peace officers killed since Kosovo erupted last week in its worst spasm of ethnic violence in nearly five years of UN rule. Before they died, they fired back. Police later found a man dead of gunshot wounds.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was "shocked and outraged" by the killings, his spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said in a statement yesterday.
UN police commissioner Stefan Feller suggested the ambush might be tied to "criminal activities" and said in a statement he "did not wish to" link it to last week's mass violence.
An estimated 51,000 people took part in 33 riots over two days, resulting in 28 deaths, hundreds of injured, and the expulsion of 3,600 Serbs.
As head of NATO, Solana ordered the alliance's 78-day bombing war to stop Serb "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo Albanians, which began March 24, 1999.
Albanians marked the anniversary, but the irony was heavy. Last week, NATO had to rush 2,000 extra troops to Kosovo to stop what one commander said amounted to ethnic cleansing in reverse.
"Now we have two big debts to NATO," wrote respected Kosovo Albanian publisher Veton Surroi, saying it had saved Albanians from genocide once and now rescued them from self-destruction.
The road ambush fueled speculation that Albanian extremists were turning on the international community and were ready to avenge Albanians killed by NATO peacekeepers in last week's clashes which left 28 dead from both ethnic communities.
Serbs say UN Kosovo governor Harri Holkeri should be fired. Veteran US Balkans trouble-shooter Richard Holbrooke said Holkeri "did not realize that time was not on his side."
