EU police raid home of former Kosovo guerrilla commander

(PRISTINA) - EU police on Wednesday raided the home of an ethnic Albanian former guerrilla commander as part of a probe into alleged political assassinations following the Kosovo conflict, a press release said.

EU police "have been carrying out a search in the residence of a former KLA commander," the pres release of the EU rule of law mission (EULEX) said.

"A EULEX special prosecutor is present at the scene in order to ensure the effective gathering of evidential material," it added.

The statement did not reveal the identity of the arrested man but it added that the case related to the ongoing EULEX investigation into claims that officials from Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's party ordered political rivals' assassination after the 1998-99 conflict.

Local media media reported that the target of the raid was Azem Syla, the former chief commander and co-founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

So far two people have been arrested in relation to the assassination probe on suspicion of having been members of an execution unit from the end of the war in mid-1999 to 2003.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 and in December of that year the 3,000-member strong EULEX mission was launched to enforce the rule of law in Kosovo.

It has the power to step in and take on cases that the local judiciary and police are unable to handle because of their sensitive nature.