shadower
02-09-2005, 11:53 AM
Explosion Destroys Car Of Moderate Kosovo Serb Leader
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--A moderate Serb leader in an ethnically divided city in Kosovo said his car was destroyed by an explosion late Tuesday, but no one was harmed in the blast.
Oliver Ivanovic, who heads a moderate Serb fraction in Kosovska Mitrovica, 40 kilometers north of Pristina, the provincial capital, said the explosion took place at 9:40 p.m. (1940 GMT) Tuesday in the main square in the northern, Serb half of the city.
A U.N. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, in Kosovska Mitrovica confirmed the explosion took place and said police were investigating.
Ivanovic, who was at home at the time of the blast, told The Associated Press he had parked his car in its usual place on the square, close to his apartment building. He wouldn't speculate on the motives of those who blew up his car.
After the blast, NATO-led peacekeepers sealed off the area around the vehicle, keeping spectators at bay. The explosion also broke windows of nearby kiosks and newspaper stands.
Ivanovic antagonized Serb hard-liners in Kosovo when he ran in the province's general elections in October. The balloting was overwhelmingly boycotted by Kosovo's minority Serbs who saw it as a step toward an independent Kosovo dominated by ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo officially remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, the successor state to Yugoslavia, but Belgrade has had no authority over it since 1999 following a three-month NATO bombing campaign to end a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
Kosovo has since been administered by the U.N. Talks on its future status are expected to start sometime this year.
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--A moderate Serb leader in an ethnically divided city in Kosovo said his car was destroyed by an explosion late Tuesday, but no one was harmed in the blast.
Oliver Ivanovic, who heads a moderate Serb fraction in Kosovska Mitrovica, 40 kilometers north of Pristina, the provincial capital, said the explosion took place at 9:40 p.m. (1940 GMT) Tuesday in the main square in the northern, Serb half of the city.
A U.N. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, in Kosovska Mitrovica confirmed the explosion took place and said police were investigating.
Ivanovic, who was at home at the time of the blast, told The Associated Press he had parked his car in its usual place on the square, close to his apartment building. He wouldn't speculate on the motives of those who blew up his car.
After the blast, NATO-led peacekeepers sealed off the area around the vehicle, keeping spectators at bay. The explosion also broke windows of nearby kiosks and newspaper stands.
Ivanovic antagonized Serb hard-liners in Kosovo when he ran in the province's general elections in October. The balloting was overwhelmingly boycotted by Kosovo's minority Serbs who saw it as a step toward an independent Kosovo dominated by ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo officially remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, the successor state to Yugoslavia, but Belgrade has had no authority over it since 1999 following a three-month NATO bombing campaign to end a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
Kosovo has since been administered by the U.N. Talks on its future status are expected to start sometime this year.