Pristina - An explosive device was thrown Friday evening at
the Pristina office of the internationally-appointed administrator
for Kosovo, police said.
'Several windows were smashed but no one was injured in the
attack', police spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
dpa.
The attack targetted the office of the International Civilian
Representative (ICO), a UN-appointed official tasked with overseeing
United Nations settlement proposals for the region.
The representative also acts as the European Union's Special
Representative for the region.
'We condemn this incident without reservation. We are grateful to
the government of Kosovo for their support, and look to them to
ensure the safety of the staff of all international missions working
here,' said Andy McGuffie, ICO spokesperson.
Tensions are high in Kosovo, where its leaders have been having
marathon talks with representatives of the United Nations and
European Union over a revised plan for deploying Eulex, the EU
mission in Kosovo.
Kosovo authorities condemned the blast and called those who
carried it out 'enemies of Kosovo'.
'The perpetrators of this act are the enemies of Kosovo,'
President Fatmir Sejdiu said at the emergency press conference with
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
'No incident, nor any such ugly act can affect Kosovo's pro
Western policy ... and our trust in the entire international
community. Kosovo has been and will remain a calm and stable
country,' Thaci said.
Pristina opposes a a six-point plan for Kosovo, out of concern
that it could lose control over northern parts of the territory that
are heavily populated by Serbs.
The plan, modified to offer Serbia some concessions, puts the
Serb-dominated north of Kosovo under a UN command, while Eulex would
administer the rest of the country. Pristina says the plan would mean
de facto partition of Kosovo.
Thaci and Sejdiu dismissed a link between the blast and ongoing
negotiations.
'We don't want to link the two, but the enemies of Kosovo can try
and link everything', Sejdiu said.
Pristina's opposition put the fate of the 2,000-strong EU mission
in doubt, prompting U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier this
week to urge Kosovo to reconsider the UN plan for a deployment of
Eulex.
'We have expressed our stand on the six-point plan. It is a
document which in its substance, is unacceptable to Kosovo,' Sejdiu
said Friday.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February and was
recognized by most of the EU and United States.
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