Bulgaria Detains Kosovo's Ex-PM on War Crimes Charges

But UN wants ethnic Albanian leader freed
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 24, 2009 6:05 AM CDT
Bulgaria Detains Kosovo's Ex-PM on War Crimes Charges
Police say Agim Ceku, the prime minister of Kosovo between 2006 and 2008, was taken into custody at a border checkpoint while entering Bulgaria from Macedonia late Tuesday, June 23, 2009.   (VISAR KRYEZIU)

Bulgarian authorities have detained a former Kosovo prime minister on an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol at Serbia's request, reports the AP. Agim Ceku, PM between 2006 and 2008, is wanted for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1998-1999 war when he was military chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army, made up of ethnic Albanian guerrillas. His arrest comes despite repeated requests from UN that the charges be dropped.

A former Bulgarian foreign minister told reporters that Ceku was detained on his way to Bulgaria to lobby for NATO membership. "I am in constant contact and we exchange regular visits with Agim Ceku," said Solomon Pasi, who added that the warrant for Ceku's arrest was "politically outdated, reflecting realities from a decade ago." (More Kosovo stories.)

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