Kosovo Serb police officer gunned down in northern village

23/06/2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo – Authorities found a police officer shot dead in his car in northern Kosovo on Sunday (June 22nd). Gunmen shot the victim, a Kosovo Serb, possibly while he was driving in the village of Rudare, 5km north of Mitrovica, in a predominantly ethnic Serb area. Police say they are detaining two Serb suspects.

Mitrovica Mayor Bajram Rexhepi warned that tensions in the ethnically divided town may rise if steps are not taken to end the presence of Serb security structures in northern Kosovo.

Also Sunday, hundreds of inmates in the Dubrava prison began a hunger strike, demanding an amnesty law and better conditions in Kosovo's biggest prison. One inmate says every prisoner is protesting. (Koha Ditore, Express - 23/06/08; KTV, Kosovalive - 22/06/08)