Balkans: January 21, 2003

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: It was believed to be the first attack on a UN police building in the Yugoslav province, around 19:30 January 21 an explosive device hit United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) police headquarters in Pec, Kosovo's second city. The blast damaged two floors of the building, which was nearly empty at that time. There were no casualties and while there was speculation that a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) may have been used, the UNMIK did not did not specify the explosive used. 

That same day, former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic voluntarily arrived in The Hague to face trial on war crimes charges stemming from the 1999 Kosovo conflict. Milutinovic was indicted in 1999, along with former Yugoslav federal President Milosevic and three other former senior officials, for atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo .

Three ethnic Albanian men were also shot dead in Pec on January 4th, in what appeared to be the latest round of a feud between rival wings of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). Two vehicles stopped another vehicle, which then came under fire. 

The most prominent victim was Tahir Zemaj, a prosecution witness in a recent high profile trial of five UCK members, who were convicted of murdering four members of a rival armed group led by Zemaj. The other two victims were Zemaj's son and his nephew. - Adam Geibel


 

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