Police seize massive cache of explosives in Kosovo (Roundup)

Aug 22, 2007, 20:55 GMT

Pristina - Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) discovered a massive amount of explosive in the western part of the breakaway province and made two arrests, authorities in Pristina said Wednesday.

Authorities uncovered 92.6 kilos of what was believed to be TNT in two houses in Vitomirica and Novo Selo, a village in the area of Pec, 80 kilometres west of Pristina, Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Police acted on an anonymous tip that explosives could be found in the villages, close to Kosovo's border with Montenegro, spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

'In Vitomirica we found 48.6 kilos in the search, while in the nearby Novo Selo we found another 44 kilos,' he said. 'So in total we have seized 92.6 kilos.'

Sources close to the police said the two arrested people were Kosovo Albanians. They said KFOR had tightened controls in the area during the search, which lasted several hours Wednesday afternoon.

'We don't know yet what the explosive was intended for, but it sure wasn't for fishing,' said Beqir Kelmendi, a senior police official in Pec, estimating that the amount seized was enough to 'blow up several buildings.'

Tension in Kosovo has grown again as the status of the province remains unresolved in spite of the expectations of the Albanian majority.

The Albanians had expected the West to push through its promise of independence for Kosovo this year, but the process was blocked by Russia in the United Nations. Russia supports Serbia, which insists on control over the province.

Western officials have expressed concern that the tension could escalate into ethnic violence targeting Serbs and other embattled minorities.