Two guards shot in Kosovo Serb enclave on Orthodox Christmas Eve

Two guards shot in Kosovo Serb enclave on Orthodox Christmas Eve
Agence France Presse -- English - January 7, 2006 Saturday 4:17 PM GMT

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro Jan 7 - Two court security guards were shot and wounded on the Orthodox Christmas Eve in the biggest Serb enclave in the UN-run disputed province of Kosovo, international police said Saturday.

"Two security guards at the Municipal Court in Gracanica (south of the capital Pristina) were shot and wounded by two unknown male suspects," UN police said in a statement.

"Both victims were taken to a local emergency center for treatment and are in stable condition," the statement said, without revealing the victims' identities.

Local media reported that one of the wounded was ethnic Albanian while another was a Serb. It said they were wounded by unknown attackers who shot at them from a moving car.

The incident occurred shortly before the main celebration of the Orthodox Christmas Eve, which was held in Gracanica's Monastery.

Police arrested two suspects in relation with the shooting, Pristina region's police spokeswoman Sabrie Kamberi told reporters, refusing to reveal the identity of the suspects.

"They were caught with a gun from which they presumably had shot at the guards. Police also found the car believed to had been used in the shooting," Kamberi said.

According to Belgrade, more than 200,000 Kosovo Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals from ethnic Albanian extremists since the United Nations took control of it in June 1999.

Out of 80,000 Serbs who remain in Kosovo, some 30,000 live in enclaves in the central part of the province, guarded by members of the NATO-led peacekeeping force.

Inter-ethnic tensions have remained high in Kosovo since Serb troops were forced out of the province after a NATO bombing campaign in spring 1999.