Ceku arrested in Budapest on Belgrade

Ceku arrested in Budapest on Belgrade-issued warrant
B92 / AP - February 29, 2004

BUDAPEST -- Sunday – The commander of the UN-created civil emergency unit, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), was detained in Hungary this morning on an arrest warrant issued by the Serbian authorities.

Agim Ceku, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was arrested at Budapest’s Ferihegy airport at around 11am. He was on his way back to Kosovo after a one-month training course with 20 KPC members in the Czech Republic.

A spokesman for the Hungarian police said they were trying to contact the authorities in Belgrade to confirm the warrant’s validity.

It accuses Ceku of war crimes, including genocide, during the 1998-99 war in the province.

Ceku has been arrested once before on the same warrant in Slovenia, but was quickly released.

The 3,000-strong KPC that he heads was created by the United Nations administration from the disbanded guerrilla army.

Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova said the detention was “unacceptable” and urged the Hungarian authorities against acting on Serb warrants, which he said were “not valid for the people of Kosovo.”