By Fatos Bytyci
PRISTINA Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:43am EDT

(Reuters) - An EU-appointed task force will release its findings next week after an investigation into allegations that Kosovo Albanian guerrillas took body organs from Serb captives during the 1998-99 war, Kosovo's justice ministry said on Monday.

Its conclusions could cause waves in Kosovo, where many in power have roots in the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) that took up arms against Serbian security forces in the late 1990s and eventually won military support from NATO.

Rival lawmakers struggled for control of Kosovo's parliament on Thursday, as it sat for the first time since an inconclusive June election triggered a constitutional crisis unprecedented in the young state's short history.

An opposition bloc, supported by deputies representing some of Kosovo's ethnic minorities, elected the leader of the largest opposition party as speaker of parliament, but only after lawmakers from the party of outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci declared the session adjourned and walked out.

Kosovo took a step towards forming a new government on Thursday when parliament convened for the first time since indecisive June polls, with the opposition seeking a majority to take power from outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) emerged as biggest party from June 6 polls with 30 percent of votes, but three opposition parties have united in a bid to outmaneuver him.

Days of talks with a fourth party, however, have so far failed to produce a majority in the 120-seat chamber, raising the prospect of a fresh election.

A Kosovo court said on Friday it had indicted suspected Balkan crime boss Naser Kelmendi, blacklisted by Washington on suspicion of trafficking drugs, for organised crime, murder and drug smuggling.

Kelmendi, 56, is a Kosovo-born ethnic Albanian with Bosnian citizenship. He was arrested in Kosovo in 2013 on a warrant from Bosnia but remained in custody in Kosovo as the two countries do not have an extradition agreement.

Sun, Jun 15 2014

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A parliamentary candidate from the party of Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was shot dead on Sunday, police said, one week after an inconclusive general election in the tiny Balkan nation.

It was not clear whether there was any political motive for the shooting of Elvis Pista, who was killed as he left a restaurant in the southern town of Rahovec with his wife and some friends, the police said.

"He was shot from behind with a fire arm, at a distance of five meters," said a police statement emailed to Reuters.

Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:25am EDT

(Reuters) - Kosovo power utility KEK said on Thursday it would likely restart a 130 megawatt (MW) unit of its second-biggest coal-fired power plant Kosovo A in 10 days following an explosion last week that killed two people.

"We are planning to put it into operation in 10 days but it will depend on what the experts say," Edmond Nulleshi, executive director for corporate services at KEK, told Reuters.

Kosovo A and the larger Kosovo B plant account for 90 percent of electricity generation in the Balkan country.

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Three opposition parties in Kosovo said on Tuesday they had united and planned to form a government, trying to undercut Prime Minister Hashim Thaci whose ruling PDK party won an election but was left seeking partners.

The second-placed Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said it had reached a coalition deal with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) of former guerrilla commander Ramush Haradinaj and a small party led by defectors from Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

June 9, 2014 - 13:12

By Matt Robinson

PRISTINA (Reuters) - The ruling party of ex-guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci has won most votes in Kosovo's parliamentary election but is left seeking partners to help fulfil buoyant promises it made to a frustrated electorate.

With most votes from Sunday's poll officially counted, Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) came out on top with 31 percent, ahead of its arch-rival, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), on 26 percent.

By Fatos Bytyci and Matt Robinson

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's ruling party of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci claimed a third term on Sunday in an election marked by a low turnout among Kosovars frustrated with widespread poverty and corruption.

With votes from 70 percent of polling stations counted, Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) held 30 percent, ahead of its arch rival in the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 26 percent.

A hydrogen tank exploded at Kosovo's second biggest power plant on Friday, killing two people and injuring 14, officials said.

The 40-year-old Kosovo A plant, considered one of the worst polluters in Europe, was shut down following the blast that was heard in the capital, Pristina, some 10 km (6 miles) away.

The explosion threatened electricity supplies in a country already plagued by blackouts. Power imports were increased to cover demand.

"We have found two bodies," Edmond Nulleshi, a manager at the Kosovo's Energy Corporation (KEK), told Reuters.