Mon, Oct 27 2014

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - The European Union justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is looking into allegations some of its senior staff may have dropped criminal charges against some defendants from Kosovo in return for money, the leading newspaper Koha Ditore said.

EULEX said in a written response to Reuters questions that it did not comment on "any ongoing investigation, or any leaked document" purporting to be linked to an investigation, and added: "Allegations are receiving the follow-up required."

Kosovo is on track to take part in its first ever Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 after the region in the Balkans was granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday.

It could now achieve full membership as early as the IOC session in December, the IOC said in a statement on Wednesday.

The decision angered Serbia's Olympic Committee which has lodged an official protest with the Olympic body.

10/16/2014 04:45:22

Matt Robinson
Source: Reuters World Service Date: October 16, 2014

BELGRADE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Serbia's interior minister said on Thursday that Albania was "not mature enough" to join the European community, stepping up a war of words over a drone stunt that forced a soccer match between the Balkan nations.

Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic's remarks cast further doubt on a scheduled visit by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to Belgrade next week - the first by an Albanian leader in almost 70 years.

By Zoran Milosavljevic

BELGRADE Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:58am BST

(Reuters) - The politically-sensitive Euro 2016 qualifier between Serbia and Albania was abandoned on Tuesday following a brawl between players from both sides after a flag stunt.

The Group I game, with no away fans permitted, was interrupted when a flag depicting so-called Greater Albania, an area covering all parts of the Balkans where ethnic Albanians live, was flown over the terraces and pitch by what appeared to be a remote controlled mini drone near the end of the first half.

Wed, Oct 1 2014
By Fatos Bytyci

KACANIK Kosovo (Reuters) - Born in Germany, Blerim Heta moved to his parents' native Kosovo as a 10-year-old boy in the wake of a NATO air war in 1999 to save the territory's ethnic Albanians from Serbian repression.

They settled in Urosevac, where U.S. soldiers – greeted as heroes for leading the intervention – were building a military base, a guarantor of protection for the aspiring statelet and a source of jobs for Albanians trying to rebuild their lives.

9:49am BST

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Police in Kosovo arrested 15 people on Wednesday, including a number of imams, in the second major operation in weeks to stem the flow of young ethnic Albanians joining Islamist fighters in Iraq and Syria, a police source said.

Local media reported that an influential imam of the Grand Mosque in the capital, Pristina, was among those arrested, as was the leader of an Islamic-rooted political party.

Most of Kosovo's 1.8 million people are ethnic Albanian Muslims and lead largely secular lives.

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Police in Kosovo arrested an imam on suspicion of recruiting Kosovars to fight in Iraq and Syria after 40 men were rounded up this week and on Thursday ordered to remain in detention.

The 30-year-old imam from the eastern town of Gjilan is accused of recruiting for the purpose of terrorism and organizing and participating in a terrorist group.

"He is suspected of being one of the main inspirers of jihad," police said in a statement.

Source: Reuters - Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:12 GMT

By Julia Fioretti

BRUSSELS, July 29 (Reuters) - An EU-led inquiry found "compelling indications" that Kosovo Albanian guerrillas extracted body organs from Serb captives during the 1998-99 war and sold them, but the practice was not widespread and there was not enough evidence for a trial, the lead investigator said on Tuesday.

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's constitutional court suspended the appointment of the speaker of parliament on Wednesday, deepening a political crisis over who gets to rule the impoverished Balkan country for the next four years.

Kosovo is locked in a battle between political parties over who should form the next government following an election six weeks ago.