Berlin says explosion charges against BND are “absurd”
The German government has said that the charges for the Pristina explosion against three members of its BND intelligence service, laid by the Pristina authorities, are “absurd”
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"The idea that the German government could be involved in terrorist attacks abroad is absurd," said a government spokesman, Thomas Steg.
"Germany supports EU policy in Kosovo and as such it would make no sense to attack the EU building in Pristina," said Max Stadler, deputy chairman of the parliamentary commission that supervises the German secret services. Stadler said members of the committee had not received any information from the government about the allegation of BND involvement.
"There are public charges of a grave nature," he said. "Even if, as I hope and believe, there is nothing to this, the government should clarify it."
The German magazine Spiegel reported that the suspects had protested that they were investigating the crime scene when they came under suspicion by the Kosovar authorities.
Photographs in the large-circulation Bild daily newspaper showed a photograph of the three accused men in court, their eyes blacked-over to protect their identities.
"These guys are suspects and are being treated as such, nothing more, nothing less," said Veton Elshani, a spokesman for the Kosovo Police. "We believe that they were in Kosovo in a private capacity, with no diplomatic passports; they don't have immunity."
The men are being investigated for committing an act of terrorism, which carries a penalty upon conviction of up to 20 years in prison.
According to the German media, Berlin is rather angry at Pristina, but at the same time, it hopes for a discreet, diplomatic resolution of the issue.
