Kosovo blast wounds three

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro - An explosion late on Sunday local time in the Kosovo capital Pristina injured three people and damaged the offices of an opposition political party, police and witnesses said.

The blast occurred shortly after 10pm (7am NZT) outside the offices of ORA, a small opposition party led by prominent Kosovo Albanian publisher Veton Surroi.
A spokesman for the Kosovo Police Service said three children living on the floor above the offices suffered minor injuries.

"They were taken to hospital but have since been released," Refki Morina told Reuters. He said the explosion had caused significant damage to the building.

The street was cordoned off and members of the NATO-led peace force stationed in the province were on the scene.

The explosion is the latest in a series of violent incidents to hit the U.N.-run province in recent months. They include a roadside bomb blast in March targeting President Ibrahim Rugova. He escaped unhurt.

Kosovo is gearing up for negotiations later this year on whether it becomes independent -- as the 90 per cent Albanian majority demands -- or remains formally part of Serbia.

The United Nations, which has run the province of 2 million people since the 1998-99 guerrilla war, says extremists could try to destabilise Kosovo as the talks near.

Kosovo's political scene has become increasingly frayed since the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj to face war crimes charges at the UN tribunal in The Hague.

Diplomats say his decision on March 7 to surrender to The Hague left a gaping hole in Kosovo's governing coalition. The weeks since have been filled with accusations of corruption and criminality between opposition and ruling parties.

Haradinaj returned briefly to Kosovo on Sunday after the tribunal granted him temporary release to attend the funeral of his brother, Enver, who was shot on Friday in what a NATO source was probably a clan dispute.

A 78-day NATO bombing campaign in 1999 drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians in fighting the separatist rebels.

- REUTERS