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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 17 January 2018

Serb leader’s death in Kosovo raises Balkan region tensions

were unable to save him. Albanian separatists.
An autopsy showed he Ivanovic, who was married
was shot six times in the with three children, had en-
upper torso. The assail- emies both among Kosovo
ants escaped in a car that Albanians and nationalist
was later found burned Serbs because of his mod-
out. Kosovo police sealed erate policies.
off the area of the shoot- A Kosovo court convicted
ing while they searched him of war crimes from
for suspects. Ivanovic was the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
one of the key politicians in The verdict eventually was
Serb-dominated northern overturned and a retrial
Kosovo, a former Serbian was underway.
province where tensions re- In Belgrade, Serbian Presi-
main high a decade after dent Aleksandar Vucic
Kosovo declared indepen- held a top security meeting
dence in 2008. Serbia does to discuss the attack. Vucic
not recognize Kosovo as a called Ivanovic’s killing “a
separate country. terrorist act” and said Ser-
Ivanovic was considered a bia would demand to be
moderate who maintained included in any investiga-
relations with NATO and tions carried out by inter-
EU officials after Serbia lost national missions based in

Police officers secure the scene where unknown assailants opened fire on Kosovo Serb politician control of northern Koso- Kosovo.
Oliver Ivanovic in front of his office in the northern, Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica, Kosovo, vo following NATO’s 1999 “Serbia will take all neces-
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. The Kosovo government has strongly denounced the slaying of a leading bombing to stop a deadly sary steps so the killer or kill-
Serb politician in northern Mitrovica and says it considers it to be a challenge to “the rule of law”. Serb crackdown on ethnic ers are found,” he said.q
(AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
By GORAN DANILOVIC fices in northern Kosovo, an Unknown assailants
Associated Press attack that raised ethnic opened fire on Oliver Iva-
MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) tensions in the Balkans and novic, 64, in the Serb-con-
— A leading Serb politician prompted the suspension trolled northern city of Mi-
was shot to death Tuesday of EU-mediated talks be- trovica. Ivanovic was taken
near his political party’s of- tween Kosovo and Serbia. to a hospital, but doctors

France:

Prison guards protest working conditions

By PHILIPPE SOTTO three guards with a knife union leader.
Associated Press at this high-security prison French President Emmanu-
PARIS (AP) — French prison last week. el Macron on Monday or-
guards protested outside Authorities say the Vendin- dered an overhaul of the
scores of jails across the le-Vieil attack was carried country’s overcrowded
country Tuesday for the out by inmate Christian penitentiary system and
second day in a row, de- Ganczarski, a German na- suggested a “massive”
manding more security, tional who converted to shift to alternative punish-
more staff and safer han- Islam and was sentenced ment such as obligatory
dling of violent inmates. to 18 years in prison for his public service or electron-
Protesters bellowing the involvement in a 2002 at- ic bracelets.
national anthem shouted tack on a synagogue in The government is ex-
down Justice Minister Ni- Tunisia that left 21 people pected to come up with
cole Belloubet as she vis- dead. a “global penitentiary
ited a prison in Vendin-le- Ganczarski was given new plan” by the end of Febru-
Vieil in northern France to preliminary charges of at- ary that would modernize
try to calm tensions. tempted murder following old facilities and plan on
The national protest move- Thursday’s knife attack. building new ones.
ment was launched by He was also transferred The report would also deal
the country’s main prison to another prison in north- with staff issues and aim
staff unions after a radi- ern France, according to to improve prison intelli-
calized inmate attacked Guillaume Pottier, a prison gence-gathering. q