In Kosovo Russian Peacekeepers Detain 30 Albanians Suspected As Terrorists

On Friday a military police patrol from the 12th tactical group of the Russian military contingent in Kosovo detained 30 Albanians south of the town of Prizren. They are suspected to be involved in staging terrorist acts and to be members of the extremist organisation Islamic Jihad in the region, said Dmitri Kabortsev, a public relations officer of the Kosovo international military police. To him, near the Velika Hoca and Suva Reka populated places, a joint international patrol of the 12th Russian tactical group and a mixed Austrian-German team are regularly inspecting suspicious vehicles. Kabortsev said that on Friday Russian servicemen confiscated from locals seven firearms while on patrol duty near the populated places of Kormijane and Brnjaca. Assessing the situation in Macedonia, Dmitri Kabortsev called it "tense". He reported that a group of Albanian separatists was detained in Skopje, who planted a bomb at the entrance of a restaurant but failed to activate it. Worsening of the Macedonia situation was also prompted by another declaration by what is called the Albanian liberation army. It banned the activities of the Macedonian security forces in regions populated mostly by Albanians.