Political Offices in Kosovo Burned

By Fisnik Abrashi
Associated Press Writer
Friday, Sept. 22, 2000; 3:39 p.m. EDT

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- Attackers burned the local party office of a
key Kosovo political leader on Friday, marking an increase in politically
motivated violence only weeks before the province holds its first
U.N.-administered municipal elections.

The attack on the offices of Hashim Thaci's party occurred just after
midnight. Party officials blamed their rivals in Kosovo's largest party,
which is run by moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova, though U.N. police and
NATO-led peacekeepers said the case was still under investigation.

The incident was the second in as many days involving a key political
party in the province. On Thursday, four men burst into the offices of
Rugova's party in the town of Lipljan, 10 miles south of Pristina, assaulting
a local party leader and smashing windows.

The party leader was slightly injured and did not require medical attention,
said Maj. Scott Slaten, a spokesman for NATO-led peacekeepers in the
province.

Attacks have been increasing steadily in the last week since the start of
campaigning for Oct. 28 municipal elections. Though overall control of the
province will remain in the hands of U.N. administrators and NATO-led
peacekeepers, local officials are campaigning vigorously because the races
are seen as giving them legitimacy.

Meanwhile, campaigning heated up in the provincial capital, Pristina,
where flamboyant political leader Ramush Haradinaj held a rally to present
his party's candidates for the city's municipal council.

As hundreds cheered and waved Albanian flags, the former guerrilla
leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army told supporters that by voting for
his party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, the province will be
guaranteed separation from Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia.

He pledged that Kosovo's image would improve under his party's
direction, moving closer to NATO and other Western institutions.

"A lot of Western governments have helped Kosovo to come to the
position where it is today," he said. "Their help is linked to their inner
public opinion. That's why we want to help that the image of Kosovo
during election time be a positive image."

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press