Macedonia, Serbia warn of possible turmoil in and around Kosovo

The alarm bells sounded as underground Albanian militias launched an aggressive media campaign followed with several lethal shootings in Macedonia, and renewed threats aimed mainly against the Serbian population in neighboring Kosovo.

The danger of renewed ethnic conflict loomed over Macedonia after yet another in a series of shootings believed to be connected with the underground Albanian National army (ANA or AKSh) which reemerged from shadows during the past months.

One of the AKSh's high-profile leaders Xhavit Morina, better known by his nom-de-guerre "Commander Drenica" was found dead near the western Macedonian town of Tetovo, following an apparent gunfight which saw two other people wounded.

Shootings propelled a heated debate between government officials and the opposition which called for urgent action in order to stop the spreading of violence before the situation completely runs out of control.

Intelligence services pointed to inner-Albanian disputes as a main motive behind the killing of Morina.

"Commander Drenica" who has made his way to headlines two months ago when he led a daring escape from maximum security prison in Kosovo, was first tortured and later executed by Ali Krasniqi, a brother of much better known Agim whose militia terrorized Macedonian capital Skopje several years ago.

Krasniqi brothers were widely linked to the Macedonian government junior coalition partner Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSh), and their newly appointed leader Menduh Thaci.

In Belgrade, Serbia's intelligence chief Rade Bulatovic warned of dangers of major turmoil once negotiations of the Kosovo's future status come to an end, including massive protests, violence and possible open conflict between Serbs and Albanians.

"Protests, unrest and even conflicts between Serbs and Albanians are possible," Bulatovic said at the parliamentary hearing.

On Thursday, unidentified attackers on Thursday morning fired shots at the house of Kosovo Serb Zoran Maksimovic in the Serb-Albanian village of Gornji Livoc, near Gnjilane in eastern Kosovo.

Seven shots were fired at house, leaving broken windows and holes in one of the house walls. No one was wounded in the attack.

The Kosovo Police Service confirmed the incident but failed to locate the assailants who fired automatic weapons at Maksimovic's house.

The same house has been shot at several times since 1999, the last time in the night between September 19 and 20 this year, when none of the household members were hurt. The Kosovo Police Service has not found the responsible for any of the said attacks.

Maksimovic is also the coordinator of the charity organization Our Serbia, which takes care of over 1,000 children orphaned by war.

According to the Ministry of Kosovo and Metohija, since the arrival of the international forces in 1999, 662 people have been killed, the majority of them Serbs, while 1,500 Kosovo Serbs are still reported missing. The data also shows that more than 17,000 houses owned by Serbs and other non-Albanians were robbed and torn down. More than 200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians fled Kosovo in 1999.

Meanwhile, around 150 Christian Orthodox churches and monasteries have been destroyed or damaged, some 50 of them during the March 2004 attacks on the Serbs.

The Kosovo television has recently aired footage of heavily armed members of the Albanian National Army - dubbed ‘terrorist' by the UN - which threatened to take control of the northern parts of Kosovo, mostly populated by Serbs.

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