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Top UN official in Kosovo deplores killing of municipality president

Top UN official in Kosovo deplores killing of municipality president

Mr. Hans Haekkerup
The top United Nations official in Kosovo today expressed shock at learning of the murder of Ismet Raci, President of the Klina Municipality and a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

"I am outraged about the killing," said Hans Haekkerup, head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Expressing concern about the security situation, Mr. Haekkerup said he was awaiting a full report of the investigation into the incident to determine whether the murder was politically motivated or perpetrated for some other reason. Mr. Raci was killed in his apartment building in the centre of Klina.

In another development, the Kosovo Interim Administrative Council (IAC) today discussed last-minute attachments to the final draft of the document outlining provisional self-government for the province, UNMIK reported.

The attachments contained proposals submitted by the Serb member of the Joint Working Group on Provisional Self-Government Institutions, in addition to proposals by the Turkish community and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) -- the third largest Kosovo Albanian party at last October's elections. The Joint Working Group completed the final draft on 19 April after seven weeks' work.

UNMIK said the document would be submitted to the Kosovo Transitional Council on 25 April for an open-ended review. The Council is the only body representing Kosovo society at large, and extends beyond the political forces represented by the three Albanian and one Serb representatives who are members of the IAC.

Mr. Haekkerup said he would hold a final round of consultations with IAC members and legal experts in order to "eliminate and compromise" any disagreement before making a final decision on the document.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haekkerup stated his satisfaction at the release of Kosovo Albanian detainees in Serbia -- the so-called "Diakova Group" -- and expressed the hope that other prisoners held in Serbia would soon be returned to Kosovo.