Serbian minister escapes kidnap attempt

Albanian militants are angered by proposed talks

By Paul Anderson in Belgrade

Serb authorities say the senior official dealing with the ethnic Albanian militants in southern Serbia has escaped unharmed from an attempted kidnap.

Nebojsa Covic: police action meant he escaped unhurt

Officials in southern Serbia say the minister, Nebojsa Covic, was lured from his team's headquarters in the town of Bujanovac by two Albanians.

They told him they had been mistreated and he went to investigate under police escort.

The convoy was ambushed when it came near a Serbian police checkpoint close to positions held by Albanian militants.

Officials said swift action by special police forces accompanying Mr Covic and his team prevented their abduction, but they declined to give further details of the operation.

Buffer zone

As the Serbian coordinator for resolving the crisis in southern Serbia, Mr Covic spends half his time there meeting military and police commanders, as well as the Albanian leaders the government is hoping to draw into a process of talks.

To the anger of the militants, moderate Albanians have said they are prepared to join peace negotiations, although there has been no movement on a date or location.

The attack may also be connected to talks Mr Covic held yesterday with Nato representatives in southern Serbia on the question of removing or changing the line of the five kilometre wide buffer zone which separates Kosovo from the rest of Serbia.

The Serb army is banned from the zone and estimates that as many as 3,000 well armed rebels are using it to launch grenade and mortar attacks on Serb positions and communities.