Serb youth shot dead in town near Kosovo capital
FoNet - June 5, 2004, Saturday

Gracanica, 5 June: A seventeen-year-old youth, Dimitrije Popovic, was killed last night when he was shot in the head repeatedly in the centre of Gracanica south of capital Pristina .

An unidentified person shot at the teenager at 0250 0050 gmt while he was standing inside the Pera-zdera fast-food outlet with his friends.

Popovic was killed with two bullets which entered his head.

Four Serb youths were standing inside Pera-zdera in the centre of Gracanica when a white Audi 80 with Kosovo number plates pulled over outside. A person walked out of the car and started to shoot.

It is believed that the weapon in question was a Kalashnikov.

Gracanica residents have said that the mentioned car was seen in the evening hours to have been cruising for a while along the main road.

Popovic was a third-year pupil at the secondary Medical School in Gracanica.

Kosovo Police Service spokesman Refki Morina has said that a person suspected of the murder has been arrested and that an investigation was under way.

SOURCE: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0847 gmt 5 Jun 04

Copyright 2004 British Broadcasting Corporation  
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring


Albanian killers of Kosovo Serb youth captured - police spokesman
FoNet - June 5, 2004, Saturday

Gracanica, 5 June: UNMIK police spokesman Malcolm Ashby and Kosovo Police Service spokesman Refki Morina have confirmed that two persons suspected of killing Dimitrije Popovic in Gracanica have been arrested.

FoNet has learnt that the two arrested persons are Albanians from Gnjilane and that they were found in the possession of the automatic gun which was used to kill the youth.

A Kosovo police patrol, which also consisted of Serb members, launched a search operation following the killing. With the help of the international police, the attackers were caught in Pristina.

Several hundred Serbs have blockaded the Pristina-Gnjilane main road and the UNMIK police has banned traffic through Gracanica.

It has been announced that the police will keep in force the heightened security measures until 0600 0400 gmt on Monday.

SOURCE: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0948 gmt 5 Jun 04

Copyright 2004 British Broadcasting Corporation  
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring

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