Aide to three Kosovo premiers arrested in money-laundering raid

Aide to three Kosovo premiers arrested in money-laundering raid
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - March 12, 2007 Monday 11:45 AM EST

Pristina (DPA) - Kosovo police Monday raided the headquarters of a political party in Pristina and arrested a close aide of three prime ministers in the UN-run province.

Kosovo and UN police searched the offices of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), the party of Kosovo's first premier, Ramush Haradinaj, now on war crimes trial at the UN tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands.

The operation, in which both the Kosovo and UN police took part, was launched under suspicion of money-laundering, Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshani said.

Detained in the raid was Jahja Luka, a member of the AAK presidency and a manager of a fund launched to help finance Haradinaj's defence in The Hague.

A close ally of Haradinaj, a prime minister in late 2004 and early 2005, Luka was also the chief of cabinet during the term of Haradinaj's successor, Bajram Kosumi, who served in 2005-2006.

He was arrested as the senior advisor for social issues to the current Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, government spokesman Bedri Gashi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Rampant organized crime - including the international businesses of money laundering and smuggling of drugs and human beings - is one of the top problems in Kosovo, nominally Serbia's province in which the majority Albanians hope to win independence during the year.